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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26111089">The Princess and The Peasant</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/notaverygoodwriter/pseuds/notaverygoodwriter'>notaverygoodwriter</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supergirl (TV 2015)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>AU, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Dancing, F/F, Fluff, Folklore, Love at First Sight, Marriage, Pirates, Princess Lena, Slow Burn, Slow Burn Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, SuperCorp, Wedding, fairytale, farmers, idk just read it, merchants, peasant kara, some dansen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 06:54:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>21,802</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26111089</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/notaverygoodwriter/pseuds/notaverygoodwriter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Kara Danvers is nothing more than a peasant, but when opportunity arises to marry Princess Lena, she sees a way out of her poor, hard life. She embarks on an adventure towards the kingdom, makes some friends and some enemies along the way, and discovers the magic all around her. </p><p>OR</p><p>The supercorp fairytale AU that nobody asked for but I wrote anyway</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alex Danvers &amp; Kara Danvers, Alex Danvers/Kelly Olsen, Kara Danvers &amp; Lena Luthor, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>53</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>343</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. A Message from the Queen</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is loosely based on a russian fairytale about a magical flying ship that i heard once on a podcast and really liked so yeah</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“What time is dinner?”</p>
<p>Kara Danvers’ skin had become tanned from all of her time in the sun. Her hands were rough and her muscles were strong from all the physical labour that she did on a daily basis. She, and her parents were poor peasants living in the countryside, and even though they were farmers they could barely afford a good meal. She was the youngest of her parents two kids, but she didn’t remember her older sister, not what she looked like, or even her name.</p>
<p>When Kara was a baby, her older sister was taken by merchants as payment for a deal that they had made. Kara’s parents were struggling to keep both of them safe and fed and healthy, and so in exchange for the farm that they lived on now, they told the merchants that they could have anything of theirs that they wanted. Kara’s parents, however, did not know that the merchant would pick their elder daughter to take. With no choice but to give her up, Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers kissed their daughter goodbye and swore to get her back, but unfortunately, they never did.  </p>
<p>Kara knew that they had no food  to spare, that if they didn’t sell all of their harvest that they would be poorer than they already were, but once in a while she would pick ripe berries and pop them into her mouth before anyone could see.</p>
<p> “In a couple of hours, at least.” Eliza replied. “Dinner’s going to be better tonight, I’m making actual soup instead of the usual watery gruel we have every night.” Eliza smiled at her hardworking daughter. She remembered all the days of her growing up, the first time that she walked, the first word she said, the first time she shot and skinned a deer.</p>
<p>“Sounds delicious, mother.” Kara said. She was almost done milking the cows on the farm, and was getting hungrier than usual. She was nineteen years old, all nineteen years spent on the farm and in the countryside.</p>
<p>Kara, although she never showed it, secretly wished for all nineteen of those years that she would move to the capital, work and live in the castle for the queen. She knew that the salary of a servant was much better than that of a farmer, especially one who lived so far from civilization. She had only been to the capital once with her father to sell fruits and cheese, and she loved every minute of it.</p>
<p>When she was done with her work, she washed her hands with the water from the well, it wasn’t as clean as it should have been, not clean enough to drink raw, anyway, but it did the trick and got most of the sweat and grime off her hands.</p>
<p>She went inside her small, beat down house and found her father setting the table, or more accurately, the rug that they placed on the floor and sat around during dinnertime. Eliza set the soup down, it was hot, steaming, just off the fire. The broth sizzled a bit before cooling down to the temperature of the house.</p>
<p>“This looks great, Eliza.” Jeremiah said.</p>
<p>And it tasted great, too. They all finished in as fast as they could, gulping down the hot soup and savoring every last sip of broth, every cut of vegetable until there was nothing left. The soup was enough to sustain them for days, it was much more nutritious than what their bodies were used to. But Kara didn’t get to put her bowl away or wash her dishes, because before she could, there was a knock at the door.</p>
<p>“Who’s that?” Kara asked.</p>
<p>“I don’t know, nobody’s in this part of the countryside.” Eliza said.</p>
<p>“I’ll answer it.” Kara told them.</p>
<p>She went to the door, pushed it open and behind it was a man in his fifties, clean and neat, holding a scroll in his hands. He was from the capital, Kara could tell. He wore the clothes of a royal messenger, and his horse behind him wore the crest of the royal family. Kara was surprised, why would anyone royal be <em>here</em>? But then the messenger spoke.</p>
<p>“This is a message from the Queen. Queen Lillian of the Luthor Kingdom is offering the hand of Princess Lena, heir to the throne to anyone who can fulfill her request of a flying ship. Anyone is eligible for the Princesses hand. Good luck to those who seek it.” The messenger rolled the scroll up and left on his horse without another word.</p>
<p>Kara was confused. The heir to the throne was willing to marry anyone? Did that, maybe by chance included her? It didn’t specify a gender, or anything, so she supposed that she was also included, but she wasn’t sure. She had never met the princess, she didn’t even know what she  looked like, but if the princess was willing, then Kara would happily marry her.</p>
<p>Well, probably. Assuming that the princess wasn’t a complete jerk, of course. Kara knew that most royal marriages were not out of love, but arrangements. Heck, most peasants married higher to increase their status. So why couldn’t she?</p>
<p>Kara turned around to see her parents.</p>
<p>“What was that all about?” Jeremiah asked.</p>
<p>Kara looked at them dead in the eye, still kind of confused as to whether or not that interaction actually happened, whether or not the news was actually true. But in that moment, she made a decision “The princess is getting married. And I think I want to offer myself to her.”  </p>
<p>*</p>
<p>“What on earth are you talking about, Kara? Marrying the princess?” Eliza asked.</p>
<p>“I know that it sounds crazy, but the queen said that whoever can bring her a magical flying ship will have the princesses hand in marriage.”</p>
<p>“A magical flying ship? Do you even hear yourself? Where are you going to find a magical flying ship from, Kara? And what makes you think that you even have a chance with her? They’re expecting a man. Not just a man, a prince.” Eliza was right, it was a risk, a gamble, but Kara  didn’t care. She took her mother’s hands into her own.</p>
<p>“I know, it’s a long shot. But I’ve spent my entire life here on this farm working all day and night, and I need to get out of here. I’ll find a ship, I’ll find a way to make it fly, I’ll take it to the capital, to the castle.” Kara explained. “And if she rejects me, I’ll come back. I promise.”</p>
<p>Eliza and Jeremiah looked at each other. They sighed.</p>
<p>“Fine.” Eliza told her. “If anything happens to you, you come back immediately.”</p>
<p>Kara nodded and they told her that she would leave in two days. That would give them enough time to prepare for the long journey into the capital and give them time to say goodbye.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>For the next day, Kara was ecstatic. She couldn’t wait to go out there and live by herself, even if she didn’t have much to take with her. She didn’t know how to feel about her parents, though. On one hand, she was going out by herself, growing up and moving up in the world. On the other hand, she didn’t know when she was going to see them again. If she saw them again soon, it would mean that she failed at her journey, but if she succeeded, it would be even more time until they would be reunited.</p>
<p>Then, the morning came in which Kara would leave. She hugged her parents and departed for her journey with nothing but a couple of stale bread loaves and water in her backpack, all that they could afford to give her. But it didn’t matter, she had been eating watery gruel all her life and she didn’t need many luxuries to be comfortable. Honestly, she was just happy that they let her go.</p>
<p>And so she walked, and walked, and walked until she could no longer see her parents or her house or her farm.</p>
<p>This would be a long journey.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Heir to the Throne</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>am i shadowbanned? can that even happen on this website? Anyway, i'm writing this before the first chapter is posted so if you can comment with your thoughts i'd really like that. That would be super awesome mega cool of you. Thanks.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Princess Lena did not want to get married. Princess Lena knew that her mother also did not want her to get married. So why did she keep meeting with suitors that wanted to marry her? She had turned eighteen, sure, and she was the heir to the entire kingdom, sure, but why couldn’t she just rule by herself? She was more than capable of being her own, independent woman.</p><p>The only reason that she agreed to getting married in the first place was because she needed to inherit the throne. According to some weird ancient law that people still care about for some reason, the kingdom had to have two married rulers at the head of the castle. Why the rule existed, nobody knew. Apparently it was to stop rulers from killing their spouses to take all the power for themselves, but how many times did that even happen in history?</p><p>All she knew is that her father had died and so her mother was the sole ruler until she came of age and married. Which was now. If she didn’t marry before her brother Lex did, then he would take the crown and she couldn’t let that happen. Lex was unfit to rule, selfish, greedy. He didn’t care for the people at all.</p><p>Queen Lillian, however, had a favourite child. And it was definitely not Lena. She, like Lex, did not care for the people under her, and favored the more clever, cunning Lex instead. There was only one problem, though. Lex was not of age, and therefore could not legally marry and therefore would not get the crown.</p><p>And so, Lillian came up with a plan. She couldn’t just <em>not </em>let anyone marry her daughter, the public would become suspicious, and so she created an impossible task. To bring her a flying ship. Flying ships, however, did not exist, and therefore nobody would be able to complete the task and marry Lena. This worthless wild goose chase for a magical ship would go on long enough for Lex to come of age and marry before Lena.</p><p>Normally, Lillian would just execute everyone that she didn’t like, but killing her own daughter would be a bit too far, even for her. She couldn’t risk an uprising from the people. She needed to make it look like she cared.</p><p>The plan was perfect, an outsider would just think that the whole magical flying ship thing was to see if the suitor was “worthy” or whatever, and Lillian could go on with making her daughter’s life a living hell.</p><p>Lena was confined to her chambers for the night. She had snuck out the night before and didn’t tell anyone, so when the guards found her wandering around the forest alone in the middle of the night, they took her straight to the queen… who grounded her immediately.</p><p>It wasn’t fair, she was of age, she was the heir to the throne. She was more than capable of caring for herself.</p><p>“I can’t believe all of this. She can’t keep me here, can she? I’m going to be the queen, for gods sake.” Lena rolled her eyes.</p><p>“Well, you’re not the queen yet, so I guess that means that she <em>can </em>still ground you.” Lena’s maidservant, Sam said.</p><p>Sam had been working for the royal family for years now. She went everywhere with Lena, she cooked her meals, picked out her clothes, made her bed. She didn’t mind, though. Lena was the only member of the royal family who wasn’t a complete prick. And Lena treated her well, too. She slept in one of the guest chambers instead of the usual servants quarters, and she got to eat with Lena sometimes, too. She treated Sam more like a friend than a maid, well, a friend who did her chores and got paid, at least.</p><p> “I don’t like any of the princes that they bring me. They’re all so snobby and rich and only care about looks and money.” Lena said. “I can’t even hold a conversation with them.”</p><p>“Well, you won’t be seeing many more suitors now.” Sam told her.</p><p>“What do you mean?” Lena asked.</p><p>“You haven’t heard? The queen has promised your hand to anyone who can bring her a flying ship. And last time I checked, flying ships don’t exist.”</p><p>“I’m sorry, she did <em>what?</em>” Lena sprung up. “She can’t <em>do </em>that! If I don’t marry I won’t get the crown.”</p><p>“Then I guess you better pick out one of the  suitors you’ve met. I’m sorry if this is out of line, but girl, you gotta open up to the idea of marriage.”</p><p>Lena looked down. “It’s not that. I <em>want </em>to get married, just not to any of <em>them.</em>”  Lena didn’t know what to do. Either she married one of those rich snobby princes like her kingdom and her dead father wanted her to, or she would have to hand over the throne to Lex, who would somehow rule even worse than her mother.</p><p>“Sam?” Lena asked. Sam looked at her. “What would you do? If you were in my position, I mean.”</p><p>Sam thought for a second. “Well, I’m not suggesting you disobey orders or whatever, but if I were you, and don’t tell anyone this,” She continued. “If I were you, I would secretly meet with suitors until I found one that I liked. The whole flying ship thing is just to stop you from getting married, so I would go behind Queen Lillian’s back and do it in secret.”</p><p>Lena sighed. She knew that this was the only way.</p><p>“And if I <em>did </em>hypothetically agree to meet suitors, would you be able to organize that? Hypothetically, I mean.”</p><p>Sam nodded.</p><p>Lena knew that this was going to happen one way or another, her getting married to some random dude that she didn’t love. But, maybe she didn’t have to love someone to marry them. Maybe being able to just moderately like them was enough for her. Besides, nobody <em>really </em>was going to try and find a magic ship anyways, right?</p><p>            *</p><p>“Princess Lena, someone has claimed to have brought a flying ship.” A servant told her in the morning after her talk with Sam.</p><p>She put on her clothes and got dressed, walking down the way too long flights of stairs with Sam at her side to meet this stranger who apparently had a flying ship.</p><p>She met him at the entrance, surrounded by guards with pointy swords and shining armor. He was tall, black hair and had the clothes of someone was wealthy, but not royal. His shoes were muddy from the bottom, but clean from the top. Her mother was there too, looking nervous.</p><p>“Princess Lena!” He bowed low. “It’s an honor just to be in your presence, you’re even more beautiful in person than in the paintings—”</p><p>But he was interrupted by Lillian, snapping at him to show them his magical flying ship. He looked down at his half clean shoes, and then back up at Lena. His face red with guilt.</p><p>“I, um. I don’t actually <em>have </em>a flying ship—” and he didn’t finish that sentence either. He was carried away by the guards on the snap of Lillian’s finger, yelling, “give me a chance! I promise I’ll make a good husband!”</p><p>“A faker. A waste of everyone’s time” Lillian said. “Next time, before you call me out, make sure that there’s a flying ship that I can see.” She told the guards.</p><p>A faker, because all that they could do was fake. There is no such thing as a magical flying ship. Or so they thought.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Beggar</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>people are actually reading this?? and liking it???<br/>also i love all the comments so keep leaving those all of them are really good and make my day</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As Kara made her way towards the capital, she had absolutely no idea how to find a flying ship. She walked and walked for hours on end, her skin almost burning in the heat of the sun. She was sweating hard and even though she was fit and strong from all her farm work, she was getting tired.</p>
<p>She had been travelling all day and now the sun was going down, but she was out of the countryside at this point. She was travelling along a cobblestone road at the edge of the forest when she saw something between the trees.</p>
<p>The wind was blowing ever so gently and so the leaves moved with her hair. The breeze felt cool on her skin, a welcome feeling after the near heat wave that struck during the daytime. As she squinted her eyes, trying to get a glimpse at what she saw, two shining eyes came into view. Those eyes attached to a head, which attached to a body, which she could not see, but instead saw the outline, the figure of.</p>
<p>“Hello?” She called out. Nothing. Crickets chirped and the wind picked up stronger, blowing her hair into her face. She pushed it back behind her ear and stepped closer towards the figure. As she grew nearer to whatever was between the trees, the figure became clearer. “Is someone there?” She asked.</p>
<p>The figure stepped out from behind the trees and into Kara’s view. It was a beggar. He had graying hair, dark skin, and the starting of a beard on his face. He was dirty, his clothes wrinkled and torn, and he walked with a limp. Kara exhaled at the relief that it was only a man and not something worse, like a bear or a monster.</p>
<p>“Who are you?” The beggar asked.</p>
<p>“My name is Kara Danvers.” She told him. “I’m going to the capital.”</p>
<p>“The capital? Well you’re far from there.” He had a scratchy voice, like he hadn’t drank water in days. He was frail, skinny.</p>
<p>“You look hungry.” She said, stepping close enough that she wouldn’t have to yell to speak to him. “I don’t have very good food, but it’s food, anyway.” She took the bread and the water out of her backpack and offered it to him. He took it slowly from her, almost cautiously.</p>
<p>When he touched it, the stale bread glowed in the moonlight, grew and doubled in size and the old, flattened and squished grain turned to fresh, soft and warm loaves that looked like they were just out of the oven. He took a bite out of the bread, and Kara watched in fascination. Soon, the backpack that she was wearing grew heavier and heavier, and when she looked inside, she found that all of the bread inside her bag had become fresh like the one that the beggar was eating. She handed him one of the containers filled with water, and when it touched his hand it glowed and grew and shrunk until it turned to top shelf vodka.</p>
<p>She watched in fascination as the beggar gulped down the vodka, and her bag felt heavy once more, and when she looked inside all of the bottles of water had been replaced with pure, clear, expensive vodka. Kara was speechless. Her eyes grew in wonder and her mouth watered with delight, and she too took a loaf out, bit into it and washed it down with a gulp of vodka.</p>
<p>“Thank you, for the bread and the vodka.” The beggar said.</p>
<p>“Who are you?” Kara asked.</p>
<p>“My name is J’onn J’onzz.” He said.</p>
<p>“John Jones?” Kara repeated.</p>
<p>“Eh close enough.” J’onn responded.</p>
<p>He took another bite out of his bread and another swig of vodka, and Kara put the bag back on. It was heavier than before, although not by much. It didn’t matter anyways, Kara was strong enough to carry it. Kara yawned. It was getting later and later in the night and she was tired from walking all day. Luckily for her, J’onn noticed this and grateful for Kara’s hospitality and friendliness towards him, motioned his hand towards the trees.</p>
<p>“You look tired. You can sleep under the protection of my roof tonight, if you’d like.”</p>
<p>Kara was surprised, but thankful. “Oh, you don’t have to do that, really.” But J’onn insisted, and she <em>was </em>really tired. She didn’t know if she could stay awake long enough to make herself a shelter, so she might as well sleep next to the beggar. He seemed nice enough, anyway.</p>
<p>The beggar showed her to a little lean-to that he had made. It wasn’t exactly the most structurally sound, and they were still susceptible to predators, but it blocked out the wind and allowed them to blend in pretty well. Plus, it was better than nothing, and Kara liked sleeping under the stars anyway.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>Kara didn’t remember exactly when she dozed off. Isn’t that weird? How you don’t remember falling asleep but remember waking up? One minute you’re staring at your ceiling or up at the sky in your bed and the next it’s morning and the sun’s coming up. Well that’s exactly how Kara felt.</p>
<p>It took her a minute to realize where she was. She thought that she would still be on the farm, waking up beside her parents and getting ready to milk the cows and feed the chickens. But she wasn’t. She woke up and saw the lean-to, and when she sat up, noticed the beggar using gathering twigs for a fire.</p>
<p>“You’re awake.” J’onn said.</p>
<p>“I am.” She said, rubbing her eyes. “I almost forgot where I was, what I was doing.”</p>
<p>“And what is it you’re doing, exactly?” He asked. “You said you’re going to the capital, but why?”</p>
<p>Kara realized that she hadn’t told him about her journey. She hadn’t really told him anything except her name and that she was going to the capital. To be fair, she barely knew anything about the beggar, except his name and that he lived in a lean-to in the forest  next to the road. She cleared her throat and sat up straight.</p>
<p>“The queen sent out a message. Anyone who can bring her a flying ship will have the princess’s hand in marriage.” Kara explained. “I’m not exactly sure where I’m going to get a flying ship from, but I’m going to the capital to marry the princess. Or, to try anyway.”</p>
<p>“A flying ship?” J’onn looked at her. Kara nodded. “Those exist?”</p>
<p>“They must. I think. I hope. If not, then my journey is useless.” Kara told him. “Hey, why do you live in the middle of the forest anyway?”</p>
<p>J’onn chuckled softly. “I used to live in the capital. On the streets, of course. But all of the schoolboys and the rich men were too good to hire me, so I never found a home. Every day they would relentlessly tease and mock me, spit on my food and stomp on my clothes. One day, I had enough. The capital was too hostile for me, and so I moved out here. No people, no harassment.”</p>
<p>Kara didn’t say anything, and J’onn looked at her and smiled.</p>
<p>“You, though. You’re nice, good. Nobody has ever offered me bread and vodka before, not even when I was in the capital. Most who don’t spit in my face take pity on me, but not you.”</p>
<p>Kara shrugged. “I was raised to be humble and kind. What little I have for myself, I like to share with others.”</p>
<p>“You better get going, the capital is far from here, but mark my words,” He started. “You will be rewarded for your friendliness, your hospitality.”</p>
<p>When Kara left, J’onn smiled as she went on her way. She began on a forest path instead of the road after J’onn told her of a quicker way to get to the capital. Kara looked back on the smiling beggar, and waved before turning her back, but not before promising that they’ll see each other once again.</p>
<p>One day.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Speed Dating</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>well, this is the chapter i guess</p>
<p>also, i really appreciate all the comments and kudos, i didn't think that many people would want to read this, and it's really comforting to know that people like it</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sam had found suitors unexpectedly quickly. Lena thought that she might have some time to herself but alas, she had to meet with a bunch of guys who wanted to marry her. They met in the garden behind the castle, it was private enough that Lillian and Lex wouldn’t find them, but official enough that the suitors wouldn’t question anything.</p>
<p>The garden was fit with rows and rows of flowers and herbs and vegetables, all blooming nicely in the summer sun. The grass was green and the trees and bushes were trimmed. The air was fresh and the soil was dark and moist with the water that it got almost daily. There were no weeds in the garden. As soon as one sprouted up, one of the servants would nip it and kill it before more could appear. Lena sat on a chair under the shade of a stone and marble structure looking as regal and proper as possible as Sam stood behind her.</p>
<p>And then she waited.</p>
<p>The first man showed up, he was clean and neat, with his hair cropped short and his beard combed and trimmed. He approached her and took her hand, kissed it softly, and introduced himself. Lena didn’t need to introduce herself, they all already knew who she was, but she did anyway. She asked him about what he liked to do in his spare time and he said he liked to hunt.</p>
<p>Lena was a vegetarian.</p>
<p>The second man showed up and he was tall and chubby and his cheeks were red and his hair was gray. He was old enough to be Lena’s father. Still, she took a chance on him and he took her hand and kissed it softly and introduced himself as a wealthy cobbler. She looked down at his shoes and they were definitely top of the line. Although he was wealthy, he was humble and kind. Lena asked him what he liked to do in his spare time and he said that he liked spending time with his sons, who were Lena’s age.</p>
<p>Lena did not feel comfortable with that.</p>
<p>The third man was someone that Lena almost recognized. He was a young knight that won the jousting competition a couple of months prior. He was blond, tall, and muscular. He had defined cheekbones and wore a sword on his hip. He kneeled before her an took her hand and kissed it gently. Lena took a second before realizing that she had seen this man before, and that they had spoken. She told him that she remembered him and he said that he was glad.</p>
<p>The young knight admitted that he had never been a suitor before and he didn’t exactly know how all of this worked. Lena told him that she didn’t exactly know how all of this worked either. She had only been in one relationship before and it was with one of the servants children when she was four years old. She barely remembered anything from it other than the fact that all of the castle staff thought it was cute.</p>
<p>They kept talking and talking and Lena sort of liked him. He was funny, and smart too. He was attractive, that was obvious, but he wasn’t full of himself or anything. The knight told her about all of the times that he messed up during training and all of the times that he succeeded and Lena told him about some of the stories about when she was in princess training school.</p>
<p>His name was Antony and he came from a poor family, which explained why he was so modest compared to the other knights. Lena liked his charisma and his smile, and Antony liked Lena’s kindness and her stories.</p>
<p>But still, Lena could feel nothing for him. She could not imagine marrying him, or having children with him. Not even kissing him or holding his hand. She liked him, but only as a friend. The more that Antony thought about it, the more that he talked to her, the more apparent it became that he too only liked her as a friend.</p>
<p>When she finished meeting with the suitors, she spoke to Sam.</p>
<p>“So?” Sam asked. “What did you think?”</p>
<p>“I liked the knight. Antony?”</p>
<p>Sam grinned and jumped up and down. “Antony! I liked him too! He’ll make a <em>great </em>king.”</p>
<p>“Not like that. I liked him, but as a friend. <em>Only </em>as a friend.”</p>
<p>“Oh. So you didn’t like any of the other men?” Sam asked.</p>
<p>Lena bit her lip and looked over at Sam’s hopeful face. The truth was, she had known for a long time the type of person that she wanted to marry, and it wasn’t any of the men that Sam had brought her, or any of the men that anybody else had brought her. She exhaled, was she going to admit this? Right now? What would Sam think? No, she couldn’t keep this in any longer.</p>
<p>“The truth is,” Lena started. “I don’t want to marry a man at all.”</p>
<p>Sam looked confused.</p>
<p>“What do you mean, Princess Lena?”</p>
<p>"I mean, I want to marry a woman.” She said.</p>
<p>Sam froze. She stopped for a while and looked at Lena, and then she smiled.  She pulled Lena in for a hug, and Lena, surprised at this reaction, hugged her back. When she pulled away, she straightened out Lena’s clothes and went back from friend to maid mode. And then she went back to friend mode when she said,</p>
<p>“So then Antony’s available?”</p>
<p>They both laughed together and for the first time in her life Lena felt like a huge weight was lifted off her shoulders. Sam, her maid turned best friend accepted her. And that, in the moment, was all that mattered to Lena.</p>
<p>            *</p>
<p>After the whole suitor thing was over, Lena had some of her princess duties to attend to, and she did so with a smile on her face because of how well her coming out had gone.  When she was done with the things that she needed to do, she retreated back to her chambers.</p>
<p>When she got outside of her door, though, she was stopped by her brother Lex.</p>
<p>“Where were you all day?” He asked.</p>
<p>Lena couldn’t tell him that she was meeting with suitors that weren’t approved by her mother, but she also wasn’t the best at lying, and so she deflected the question and pulled what was similar to an uno reverse card.</p>
<p>“I could ask you the same thing, Lex.”</p>
<p>“Mother was looking for you, but nobody knew where you went. She wants to speak with you.” Lex told her.</p>
<p>“About what?”</p>
<p>“She didn’t say, but I think that you should go speak to her.”</p>
<p>Lena let out a soft “fine” and it worked to get Lex to leave,  but she still didn’t reach the inside of her bedroom before Lex told her that she wanted to see her <em>immediately. </em>As in right now, immediately. Her smile had faded just as Lex came into her sight, but now it turned to a frown. This couldn’t be good.</p>
<p>She headed to the throne room, where she knew that her mother would be. Royals didn’t just sit in their thrones all day like some movies or television shows would lead you to expect, however their mother loved just sitting there and ordering around her servants whenever she got any sort of free time.</p>
<p>She entered the throne room through the big, gold double doors. There were guards on each side of the door as well as guards on each corner and wall of the throne room. It was big and empty, except for the four thrones that sat on the floor at the end of the room. One for Lillian, one for Lex, one for Lena, and the last and most extravagant for Lena and Lex’s late father.</p>
<p>She oddly didn’t miss him that much. It had been about sixteen months since he died, as they had to wait until Lena’s eighteenth birthday for her to be eligible as queen and to marry, and so during the time they took to grieve, Lillian was ruler of the kingdom. Not a very good one, but ruler indeed.</p>
<p>“Lena.” Lillian said as she entered the room.</p>
<p>“Mother. What is it that you wanted to talk to me about?”</p>
<p>“Oh, right. I’ve come up with a way to pick your new spouse. Have you heard?”</p>
<p>“Yes, mother. The whole flying ship thing.”</p>
<p>“Good, then you’re aware of the terms?”</p>
<p>Lena raised an eyebrow. Terms? She hadn’t heard of any terms whatsoever. She voiced this to Lillian and Lillian responded with an explanation. It was as follows.</p>
<p>“When you, Lena, take the throne, I will control half of the kingdom while you control the other half. You’re still young, inexperienced. You’ll need help, and I will be that help.”</p>
<p>“What? You can’t do that!” Lena exclaimed.</p>
<p>Lillian chuckled. “Yes I can, I’m the <em>queen</em>.”</p>
<p>“You know that I’m not getting married, Mother. There’s no such thing as a flying ship! This whole thing is just a rouse to get Lex to take the crown before I can.”</p>
<p>Lillian chuckled again. “No, no, darling. You don’t know that. This is just to make sure that you find the one. The <em>right </em>one.”</p>
<p>Lillian was lying through her yellow teeth. Lena knew it, Lillian knew it, and Lex knew it. Apparently though nobody else knew it, or they were too scared to admit it, anyways. Lena couldn’t blame them, if she was a commoner she would be scared too. What to do, what to do…</p>
<p>Lena couldn’t think of anything. But she knew how to come up with a plan. She always thought better outside of the castle, outside of the capital. She thought for a moment and then looked up at Lillian, smirking for some reason and rolling around in her own narcissism.</p>
<p>“So then no more suitors?” Lena asked. Lillian shook her head. “I’m going to take a trip. Be out for a couple of days. Have some time for myself.” Lena showed a fake smile, bearing her teeth and creasing the corners of her mouth to make it seem real.</p>
<p>“I don’t see any harm in that.” She snapped her fingers at some guards. “Ready the horses, Lena will need knights riding with her, and—”</p>
<p>“No.” Lena said. “No knights. I’ll take my maid and that’s it. I can handle myself.”</p>
<p>Lillian wondered what sort of game she was playing, and then dismissed her thoughts with the one that said, ‘whatever Lena’s planning can’t be better than my plans.’ She let her go with a “very well” and Lena told her that they’ll leave in the morning after breakfast.</p>
<p>Even if she couldn’t think of anything outside the capital to help her with her whole heir to the throne situation, at least she would be away from her mother and brother for a little bit. And for Lena, that was enough.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Magical Wood (thats what she said)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for everyone whos reading this, it really warms my heart. Also, i love reading all of the comments, so keep leaving those. Here's the next chapter, i hope you all like it!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kara had been taking the path that J’onn had told her to, wandering through the forest and cutting away twigs and branches with her knife, the only thing that she had brought with her that she could use to defend herself against hostile people or large animals. She supposed that when she ran out of bread and vodka she would hunt for food, and although she didn’t have much, the knife was probably the best investment that she had ever made.</p>
<p>She didn’t notice when the thicket of the woods ended and she got to a clearing until she swiped her knife around and it didn’t cut anything. She looked around, there was a big, empty area with freshly trimmed grass and no trees or bushes in sight, like they never existed at all. The clearing was the shape of an eerily perfect circle, as if someone had taken a mathematical compass and traced it out on a piece of paper. In the middle of the clearing was a single toolbox and a single plank of wood.</p>
<p>Kara walked towards the toolbox, knelt next to it and undid the latch that held it closed. Inside of the toolbox laid the typical tools, a hammer, screwdrivers, wrenches, pliers, all of that and more. She picked the hammer up and held it in her hands. It was heavy, but when she swung it around she could feel the weight lift off her muscles and diminish into the air around her.</p>
<p>She stood back up, placing the hammer back into the toolbox, and then went towards the single plank of wood. She picked it up, examined it. It was smooth, without any knots or blemishes and even toned. But when she went to put the plank down, she noticed something. Another, identical plank of wood had appeared in its place. When she picked up the next plank, another one appeared. And another, and another.</p>
<p>“What the…” She began, but she didn’t finish. She knew what she needed to do.</p>
<p>And so she pulled out the nails from the bottom of the toolbox and with each nail that she pulled another one appeared, and she hammered them into the planks of wood and she built. She built for hours, hammering and nailing and shaping and working for hours and hours and hours.</p>
<p>She drank from the vodka in her backpack when she was thirsty and ate from the bread when she was hungry, and with each plank of wood that she set down, the boat that she built grew. When she needed a pole, poles appeared, when she needed a wheel, wheels appeared, when she needed a sail, sails appeared.</p>
<p>She worked late into the night, at by the end, she was covered in sweat, drunk off vodka, and her stomach filled with the fresh loaves that never went stale. She didn’t know how she managed it, building an entire ship in a day all by herself, but as she laid on the ship she could feel the magic of the wood and the nails and the shiny waterproof finish dispensing through her skin, penetrating her bones and entering her bloodstream.</p>
<p>            *</p>
<p>The next morning, Kara awoke hungover, lying on the deck of the ship. It wasn’t a really big ship, not enough to house a full crew or anything, but it would do. It was the size of a schooner, maybe a bit smaller, but Kara wasn’t all too skilled with boats or ships or anything to do with them anyway.</p>
<p>She managed to bring herself to a standing position, and after remembering the events of the day before, she noticed something about the ship. It was flying. Well, hovering, anyways. She was still in the clearing, well, above it at least. The ship hovered a couple of meters above the grass, the sails not up yet.</p>
<p>“Oh… well this was convenient.” She said, laughing. She laughed louder, heartier. It was all so funny to her, she was a peasant who in a couple of days had come in possession of a magical flying ship. One that wasn’t supposed to exist. She laughed and laughed until she couldn’t laugh any more, and then she supposed that she should get going. She needed to get to the capital, and the journey was still long.</p>
<p>“Okay, Kara. So what if you’ve never sailed before? You can do this.” She told herself.</p>
<p>Kara opened the sails, and as soon as the wind picked up and hit the fabric, the ship jolted upwards above the trees. She was knocked off her feet, but Kara managed to regain her balance and ran to the ship’s wheel, gripping it firmly and steadying the ship.</p>
<p>“Okay, okay. Magical ship. Okay.” She was still pretty hungover, so this would be more of a challenge than usual, but she was determined. She tightened her fingers around the wheel, turning it to the direction that she wanted to go. Northeast. The capital was northeast from the clearing. And so the ship turned, the nose pointing northeast.</p>
<p>The ship traveled over the trees, over the forest and over all the hills and valleys that Kara would usually be walking through. Kara, although she had never sailed before, managed to get the hang of it pretty quickly.  The ship traveled through the clouds. Kara had never flown anywhere before, and she felt like a bird looking down at the world. She felt like a god, a creator. She felt like a poet, feeling things that she had never felt before. It was cooler up in the air although Kara did know why. It was thinner, the air, although it didn’t bother Kara too much. Once she got the ship in the right direction she turned around, exploring the ship that she had built. Anchors had appeared at the side, barrels of daggers and swords as well. She opened one of the barrels, it was filled with crossbows and arrows.</p>
<p>Kara didn’t know how to use weapons, she never had to learn. She picked up one of the crossbows, armed it with the arrow, and aimed it at one of the clouds. She pulled back, gripping the crossbow like she had seen hunters and knights do, and shot. Except nothing happened.</p>
<p>“Hmm.” She tapped the crossbow, adjusting the arrow again. Still nothing. What was she doing wrong? Eventually she dropped it, giving up. She wouldn’t need to use it anyway. When it hit the ground, the arrow left the crossbow, and it was shot. Right into Kara’s abdomen.</p>
<p>Except she wasn’t bleeding. It didn’t hurt, either. She looked down at the arrow, screamed loud before realizing that she was in no pain, and then with her bare hand, she pulled the arrow out of her stomach. She wasn’t hurt, it was like nothing had even happened. There was no wound, no blood, not even a cut. It was then that she realized that it was the ship and the magic that flowed through her.</p>
<p>The ship had given her the power to withstand arrows. She knew it in her bones. And as she cruised through the clouds she noticed a little piece of paper attached to the side of the ship. It read “remember to help out those on their own journeys”.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. The Market</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>this chapters a bit late but in my defense i was watching tiktoks and i fell down a deep hole of watching really hot women so can you really blame me?<br/>anyways heres the thingy hope you like</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lena had been travelling all morning. She was on her horse, Myriad, a tall white stallion that she had been riding for the last year or so. She knew that she had to stay on the low, the people couldn’t know that she was the heir to the throne, and so she took the saddles without the family crest on them and wore commoner clothes that she borrowed from Sam and a dark robe with a hood that would keep people from recognizing her.</p><p>There weren’t any cameras around or the internet, so most people outside of the capital didn’t know what Lena looked like. Hell, some people didn’t even know her name, but those people were from different kingdoms or on the very edge of Luthor land.  Sam rode behind her on a smaller horse of her own. She wasn’t as good at riding as Lena was, but she knew how to handle a horse well enough to travel.</p><p>“We should head to a village or a town, one where we can pick up some food.” Sam said.</p><p>“There’s one not too far from here, maybe another ten minutes.” Lena told her, she pointed in the direction of the village that she was talking about, and turned towards it once Sam understood. It was late in the afternoon, and at the pace that they were travelling, they were pretty far from the castle. The village that they were heading to was pretty isolated, not many other villages neighboring it due to the thick forest growth that surrounded the area, and so Lena was pretty sure that she wouldn’t be recognized.</p><p>As they headed towards the village, Lena kept the hood of her robe up and so did Sam. They didn’t have any guards, no knights, nothing. Just their horses and the clothes on their backs. Lena, however did carry a knife strapped to the side of her leg. Just in case.</p>
<hr/><p>Kara had spent the last couple of days drunk off vodka and eating bread. She was getting super, super tired of it. Yeah, it was an upgrade from the watery gruel that she normally ate at home, but even forever fresh loafs got boring after a while, especially because she didn’t have any butter or cheese or anything at all to put on them. And water, too. She was thirsty not for vodka, but for actual, fresh water. Or not fresh water. It could be stale and murky for what Kara cared, all she wanted was a sip of something other than vodka.</p><p>She was getting closer to the capital with every minute that passed, but although the ship flew faster than she could walk, it was still pretty slow. An hour on one of those fancy expensive royal horses would be around four hours on the ship, but that beat the six hours of walking that she would have to do to get the same distance. And plus, the ship was much cooler than plain old walking.</p><p>Kara found a place big enough to land the ship near a village that she was flying over. It was a pretty isolated village, surrounded by forest, but there was a grassy area outside next to a pond that she could leave the ship. It would be disguised enough as to not get stolen by anyone, but close enough to the village to walk to and from it.</p><p>“Alright magical flying ship,” She said. “Time to land.” She circled around the pond for a bit until she was sure she was over the grassy area, and then, as she learned from steering the ship for the time that she had been driving it, she lowered it down by tilting the wheel down.</p><p>And that’s when it crashed.</p><p>It wasn’t a smooth landing, per say. The ship almost bounced off the grass, tilting sideways and then rolling over on its side, crushing the magical planks underneath it. Kara fell on the side of the ship, rolling over onto the ground.</p><p>When she managed to get herself up, she examined the ship. It wasn’t too bad, but it definitely wouldn’t fly in this condition.  She finally found a magical flying ship and yet she broke it within a couple of days. Great going Kara, she thought. She touched her forehead, and when she looked at her hand, her fingertips were covered in blood. She was bleeding. She could withstand arrows, sure, but she wasn’t invincible.</p><p>She didn’t have any medical supplies on the ship, so she would have to find help elsewhere. The village, of course. That’s literally why she landed there. For the village. First, she cleaned off her hands and her forehead in the pond, the red blood staining the water like food coloring before washing away, and then she made her way through the forest and into the village.</p>
<hr/><p>Lena and Sam got to the village and stopped when they saw a market in the center. Dozens and dozens of people selling fresh fruits and vegetables, clothes and jewelry, boots and hats. Not just vendors, though. The street was bustling with people, old and young, rich and poor, everyone. You could barely hear anything against the loudness of the people speaking and shouting and bargaining for the best prices. The energy was unbeatable.</p><p>“It’s so… full.” Sam pointed out.</p><p>“No matter who you are, no matter how much money you have, or who your parents are, we all need to eat.” Lena said. “And this is the place to do it.”</p><p>As Lena and Sam made their way through the street market they were offered clothing, objects, food, just about anything by the vendors selling them. They settled on buying hot soup from one of the food stands up front, and it was better than anything than Lena had ever tasted before.</p><p>Just the right spices and flavors and textures and it all danced on her tongue with the grace of ballerinas at an annual ballet performance. Sam gulped it all down relatively quickly, she was pretty hungry, but Lena made sure to savor every spoonful that she could get out of the wooden bowl.</p><p>They didn’t have all that much money on them, but it was enough to last them a few days, not that they’d need to stay for long. Still, Lena wondered how long she could jump around these little villages before anyone needed her back at the capital, or whether she could find one  that she liked, maybe buy a small house and live out the rest of her life simply, without any worries or cares in the world.</p><p>But, she had her princess life that many people would sell their soul for, and although she grateful for it, sometimes fantasized of a simpler life out in the countryside. Quiet, peaceful. Maybe she would live in the woods, picking flowers and berries and living in a small cottage, reading books by the fireplace and cooking on open fires.</p><p>“I’m going to buy another bowl of this soup.” Sam said, heading over to the food stand again where the vendor noticed her and started boiling up another pot.</p><p>Lena looked around. She was sitting on one of the rocks just outside the market, looking out into the houses and the gardens that were grown all by the residents. They were all pretty decent at gardening, valuing the fruits and vegetables on the plants more than they valued the appearances.</p><p>But then her view was blocked. Standing in front of her was a blonde woman with cheap, dirty clothes and a single dagger strapped to her hip. She turned around to face Lena.</p><p>Their eyes met, and for a second Lena was dumbstruck. She couldn’t move, she couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t do anything. And neither could the woman. It was like the entire world around them disappeared. The market went silent, the gardens and the houses faded away, and there was nothing except the two of them in the entire universe.</p><p>“Um, hi.” The woman said.</p><p>Lena was taken out of her daze. “H-Hi.”</p><p>The woman and Lena were silent for a moment, unable to articulate any of their thoughts.</p><p>“Do you, know where I can get some good food?” She asked Lena.</p><p>Lena wordlessly pointed at the soup vendor, and when the woman turned to look at the stand where Sam was holding yet another bowl of soup, she said, “They have good soup. Really good soup.” The woman turned back to Lena.</p><p>“I’m Kara, by the way.” She said, holding her and out for Lena to shake. Lena took it, surprised by the strength of Kara’s hand. “And you are?”</p><p>“Uh, Lena.” She stuttered, barely registering the question. <em>Damnit. </em>She thought. <em>You should have come up with a fake name</em>.</p><p>“Alena?” Kara asked.</p><p><em>Well, good enough.</em> Lena thought, confirming that yes, she was named Alena. Not Lena, like the princess, but Alena. A completely different name. After the whole “it’s nice to meet you” thing, Kara went to buy some soup, and Sam returned.</p><p>“Who was that?” She asked Lena, shoveling spoonfuls of soup into her mouth.</p><p>“She said that her name is Kara.” Lena told Sam. “And I think I might be in love with her.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Matches</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>lol what even is this chapter</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kara had never experienced love at first sight. Well, that was until now. The soup was good, the girl was better. Alena, she said her name was. Kara didn’t know whether or not she should talk to her again, but her choice was made for her when Kara finished the soup, looked back, and Alena was gone.</p>
<p><em>Damnit</em>. Kara thought. <em>She’s gone</em>.</p>
<p>Kara eventually remembered that she had bigger problems. She had to get to the capital and her ship was very much not fit to travel. She didn’t have any of those magical wood planks that kept appearing in that clearing where she initially built the ship, nor did she have any tools or nails or screws to keep the wood planks together.</p>
<p>Would it even fly, the ship? Did it need to be built entirely out of magical wood, or would regular wood do no harm? Well, she didn’t really have a choice anyways. She could either fix the ship and see whether or not it could fly or she could wait around and do nothing.</p>
<p>Kara looked around, there <em>had </em>to be somewhere that she could get building supplies. On the left side of the market, a small shop with a busted in window held a sign that read, “Everyday Carpentry” and the slogan, “you break it, we fix it”. And at this point Kara thought to herself, <em>I broke something, so they can fix it!</em> Kara knew that whatever carpenters that the shop employed probably didn’t have much experience fixing magical flying ships, but she took her chances.</p>
<p>When she walked into the little carpentry shop, she was surprised to find only one person sitting in the corner whittling a block of pine into a little bird. The whittling girl looked up at Kara, and, excited to have a customer for the first time in a while, dropped her whittling knife and bird and smiled a wide service grin, her eyebrows up and her eyes wide.</p>
<p>“Welcome!” She said.</p>
<p>Kara looked around and noticed one thing in particular. In the corner next to where the carpenter girl was whittling, was a shelf filled head to toe and to the brim with little whittled items. All of them were done carefully, probably taking up hours and hours for each one. This girl had gone without customers for a <em>long </em>time.</p>
<p>“Can I help you with anything? Fixing windows, flooring your hut, building a house?”</p>
<p>“What about fixing a boat?”</p>
<p>The girl seemed surprised at Kara’s genuine interest in buying her services.</p>
<p>“I can fix a boat.”</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>When Kara led the carpenter girl, whose name she found out was Nia, to the boat, she didn’t tell her that it was a magical flying ship. Nia however noticed the fact that the ship was on land next to a pond that was barely big enough for the fish inside of it and asked how the ship even got there.</p>
<p>Kara brushed off the question and asked how long it would take to fix.</p>
<p>“I’m not sure. It’ll take at least all of tomorrow, and if I work tonight you might be able to sail it again in two days.” Nia explained. Kara would take it. Two days wasn’t that bad. She could stay in the village for the nights that she needed and figure out where to go from here.</p>
<p>Kara liked the village, or what she saw of it in the maybe half an hour that she had been there. She liked the people, the energy, the noise. Her farm was quiet aside from the animals, so the sound of people was a welcome one for Kara.</p>
<p>“I’ll start working on it now, in the meantime, you should head back to the village.” Nia said. “I’m guessing that you need a place to stay, you don’t seem like you’re from around here.”</p>
<p>“How did you know?”</p>
<p>“Have you seen the state of you?” Kara replied with a “fair” Nia told her to go back to the village and go over to the tavern on the east of the village with the green painted door. “You can’t miss it, it’s not easy to, anyway. My friend Brainy runs an inn behind the tavern. It’s mostly filled with men who’ve been kicked out by their wives, but he’s friendly to outsiders too.”</p>
<p>Kara gave her a thanks and headed back to the village.</p>
<hr/>
<p>“We should get going, Lena.” Sam said.</p>
<p>“I want to stay here, just for a little bit more.” Lena told her.</p>
<p>Lena wasn’t lying, she just wasn’t telling the whole truth. She wanted to stay because of the chance that she would see the girl from the market, Kara, again. She knew that she shouldn’t want to see her again, that Kara was very obviously a commoner and that she was royalty, but she did. She wanted it with every fiber of her being. Although she didn’t tell any of this to Sam, she knew it well enough to pick up on Lena’s real intentions.</p>
<p>“Alright. I’ll find us a place to stay then.”</p>
<p>And she did. They were going to be staying at a place called “Brainy’s Tavern and Inn.”</p>
<p>            *</p>
<p>When the night fell over the village and the moonlight lit the tops of the houses and the village square went quiet, the tavern was bustling with people. Behind the bar filled with drunk men and women drinking mead and whiskey, was a man with longish black hair and a serious gaze.</p>
<p>“Hey,” Lena started. “We’re looking for whoever runs this place.”</p>
<p>The man turned around with a bottle of some dark red wine in his hand and looked at Lena.  “I run this place. My name is Brainy.” He said, pouring the wine into a glass and then handing it to one of the customers. “Do you want a drink?”</p>
<p>“No, just a place to stay for the night.” Lena explained. Brainy nodded and told them to follow him, leading Lena and Sam to the back of the tavern. They went through a door and found that the walls were pretty thick, filtering out most, but not all of the sound of the tavern.</p>
<p>“We have a room available in the back, it’s a bit small but it’s fine if you’re just staying the night.” Brainy said, taking a pad of paper out of his pocket. He disappeared into a room on the side, and came out holding a quill pen and an inkwell. He handed Sam the inkwell while he dipped the quill inside of it.</p>
<p>“Your names?” He asked.</p>
<p>“Mary, and Candace.” Sam said.</p>
<p>He wrote the name down and handed them a key, pointing to the room at the back. “That’s yours. And if you want a drink, the tavern’s open until midnight.”</p>
<p>With that Brainy left, and Lena and Sam, or as Brainy knew them, Mary and Candace, went into their room.</p>
<p>“Mary and Candace?” Lena asked. “Why did <em>you </em>need an alias?”</p>
<p>“I don’t know. It seemed fun.”</p>
<p>They opened the door to the room. It was small, that was for sure, but nothing that they couldn’t deal with. Lena was used to sleeping in small spaces. When she was younger, she would sleep in the little rooms attached to hers instead of on her bed. She didn’t know why, but she liked it. There was less echo, less cold air to worry about.</p>
<p>Sam took the bed on the left and Lena took the one on the right, laying their cloaks down on their beds. However, when Lena went to light the fireplace, there were no matches in sight. It got quite cold at night, and so a fireplace or some other heating method was necessary. Lena sighed, and said that she’ll go and ask Brainy for more matches. Sam offered to go in her place, but Lena wasn’t all that tired and Sam could barely keep her eyes open.</p>
<p>She left the room, but what she wasn’t expecting was to see one Kara Danvers, or just Kara as Lena knew her, right outside her door. As luck would have it, Kara was staying in the room opposite hers.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Kara had been in her room for a while now, doing nothing in particular. She didn’t <em>have </em>anything to do but wait for Nia to finish fixing the ship. Well, there <em>was </em>a tavern attached to the inn, and she had saved a bit of money with the discount that Brainy had given her for being friends with Nia. She’d drank a lot of vodka in the past few days, but what could one drink do?</p>
<p>And so she exited her room to go to the tavern, and it took her by surprise when the girl from the market, who she knew as Alena, was standing outside her door.</p>
<p>“Oh, hi.” Kara said.</p>
<p>“Hi.” Lena replied. “I  was just… getting some matches.”</p>
<p>Something in Kara’s brain went off despite her being totally mesmerized. “I have matches.” She blurted out. Lena didn’t say anything. “Come in, I’ll give you some.” Kara pointed to the door. She didn’t care about drinking anymore, she had forgotten all about the tavern.</p>
<p>“Oh, no I couldn’t. You’ll need those.”</p>
<p>“No, no. I don’t mind. I have plenty and I’m not staying for long.”</p>
<p>Eventually, Lena caved and went into Kara’s room. She was telling the truth, about the matches, at least. There were dozens and dozens of long, wooden matches sitting by the fireplace. It wasn’t lit yet, so the room was pretty cold. The room was bigger than Lena’s, and Kara’s stuff was by the foot of the bed, neatly organized into piles.</p>
<p>Kara handed Lena some of the matches and Lena took them.</p>
<p>“Aren’t you going to light the fireplace?” Lena asked.</p>
<p>"Oh I was just going to the tav—” Kara started, but she didn’t finish the sentence. Probably shouldn’t tell the girl that you’re into about your drinking habits. “Yeah. Yeah I’m going to light it.”</p>
<p>Kara picked up one of the matches and struck it against one of the bricks on the wall. Not a spark. She struck it again. Why wasn’t it lighting? She tried again, but still nothing. She could light matches back at home, why not now? She looked stupid in front of the girl that she liked. Well there went her chances right there.</p>
<p>“Here, let me help.” Lena said. She came up behind Kara, kneeling and put her hand on Kara’s, directing it and the match. Her heart rate rose and her blood pumped hard through her veins. “You have to strike it at the right angle.” Lena adjusted the head of the match until it was lined up properly.</p>
<p>Kara’s heart was beating just as fast as Lena’s, and she had to manually breathe because her mind was elsewhere when Lena got close to her. Lena raised Kara’s hand and struck the match, lighting  it fast. The flame grew and then shrunk, and Lena led Kara’s hand to the fireplace, throwing the match in and lighting the wood. When Lena’s hand lifted off of Kara’s, the feeling lingered. The memory of touch, the warmth of their hands combined together. They both stood up and Lena took the matches that Kara gave her into her hands again. They stood there in silence for a couple of seconds, before Lena broke the painful quiet between them.</p>
<p>“I should go. To my room, I mean.”</p>
<p>As Lena walked away, Kara considered saying something. Anything. But she didn’t. She let Lena walk away from her, but as Lena began to open the door, she heard Kara’s voice. “Wait.” Lena turned around to Kara, surprised.</p>
<p>“I’m not tired, and if you aren’t either, I hear the stars are really pretty from villages like this.”</p>
<p>Lena considered. Should she really abandon Sam for the night to spend it with some woman that she barely knew?</p>
<p>“Sure.” Lena said. I guess the answer to that was yes. “Let me just get my cloak and I’ll be right out.”</p>
<p>Kara smiled.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Stargazing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>here's the next chapter. also, thanks to everyone who left kudos and bookmarked this. it really gives me a lot of motivation to know that there's even one person who wants another chapter.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lena opened the door of her room, expecting to see Sam and have to explain where she was going and why she had such short notice, but she didn’t have to. Sam was fast asleep in her bed, snoring softly. Lena smiled and shook her head lovingly and picked up her cloak from her bed.</p>
<p>When they got outside, Lena noticed that Kara was absolutely right. The stars <em>were </em>really pretty from villages like the one that they were in. The streets were quiet, a stark contrast from the daytime market and the rowdy tavern that they were just in.</p>
<p>“I used to look at the stars all the time when I was little.” Lena said.</p>
<p>“Me too.”</p>
<p>They stopped behind some of the houses and laid down in the tall grass under their feet. The moon shined bright with the reflection of the sun on its surface, illuminating Kara’s face. Lena thought to herself, <em>she’s beautiful</em>. Kara pointed out one of the constellations up above them.</p>
<p>“That one looks like a fish.” She said.</p>
<p>“Are you sure? It kind of just looks like a bunch of stars to me.”</p>
<p>Kara looked over at her. “Just a bunch of stars? No, no. See that? There’s the eye, then the body and the fins, right there. Fish.”</p>
<p>“I still don’t see it. But that one right there,” Lena pointed at another cluster of stars. “That one looks like a goat.” Lena said. They were stargazing like they were looking at clouds, but it made sense, at least to them it did. “I never learned the names of the constellations.” Lena said quietly.</p>
<p>“Me neither.” Kara sighed. She pointed at the moon. “That one right there. That looks like the moon.”</p>
<p>Lena laughed. Kara turned on her side towards Lena, and when she noticed, Lena did the same. Her stomach filled with butterflies as she looked into Kara’s eyes.</p>
<p>“Do that again.” Kara said. Lena didn’t know what she meant. “Laugh, I mean. I like it.”</p>
<p>Lena smiled. “Well then you’re going to have to tell me a joke.”</p>
<p>“Oh really? Well, it’s a good thing that I’m great at jokes.” Kara thought for a moment, Lena waiting for this great joke that she was about to hear. Then, she got it. “Why did the chicken cross the road?”</p>
<p>“To get to the other side.” Lena said, stone faced. “I’ve already heard that one.”</p>
<p>Kara cursed under her breath. This, was what made Lena laugh. Unintentionally, of course. Kara perked up at the sound of Lena’s laughter.</p>
<p>“Ha! I did it!” Kara exclaimed.</p>
<p>“No, no. I’m laughing at your inability to make a joke.” Lena said defensively.</p>
<p>“Still counts.”</p>
<p>And they both laughed, not at each other, but with each other. They talked and stargazed and talked some more about everything and anything. Kara learned that Lena was from the capital and Lena learned that Kara was from the countryside far from here. They talked about their childhoods, their families, and what they liked doing all in their free time. They bonded and connected through their words and before they knew it, the candles lighting up the tavern went out. It was midnight.</p>
<p>“Midnight already?” Lena asked. They were closer now physically and emotionally than they had been at the start of the night. “We’ve wasted so much time.” She joked.</p>
<p>“I don’t mind wasting time if it’s with you.” Kara told her, suddenly serious. She propped herself up on her elbow, staring down into Lena’s eyes. Lena propped herself up too and they were both in sitting positions, staring out into the grassy field in front of them. In this moment, the moon looked bigger, the stars seemed to shine brighter, and the cool breeze seemed warmer. Lena pulled the hood of her cloak down, uncovering her head and making her face visible.</p>
<p>She leaned in to Kara, and she kissed her. Right then and there, they were sitting alone together, their lips pressed and their faces close and their hearts beating in sync with each other and they kissed like neither of them had ever kissed anyone before. They kissed like they had known each other for years. They kissed like they would never kiss each other ever again.</p>
<p>And for Lena, that’s exactly what she thought. That this would be the first and last time that she would ever kiss Kara.</p>
<p>When they couldn’t take any more, they pulled away, smiling at each other. And Kara laughed softly and Lena laughed just as softly and they kissed again before laying down in the tall grass and falling asleep in the moonlight.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>“We have to go. Now.”</p>
<p>Lena was not awakened by the sounds of birds chirping in the morning, not by the morning sun rising over the horizon, not by the kissing on her forehead by Kara’s lips, no. She was shook awake by Sam, her eyes wide and her hair messy.</p>
<p>“Shh! You’re going to wake—”</p>
<p>But by the time she could look beside her, Kara was already rubbing her eyes away. When she noticed Sam, she pulled the dagger out of its sheath, and sprung up from the grass, pointing the knife at Sam.</p>
<p>“Who are you?” Kara asked.</p>
<p>“She’s with me, Kara. It’s fine.” Lena told her, letting Kara relax and put the blade back. “What’s going on?” </p>
<p>“It’s the que—” Sam stopped herself. “Your mother. She just sent a messenger bird. She’s ill. We have to get back to the capital as soon as possible.”</p>
<p>Lena got up, and looked at Kara. She didn’t need to say anything, Kara knew just from the look on her face what she was trying to say.</p>
<p>“Go. Go back to the capital.” Kara told her.</p>
<p>“I don’t want to leave you.” Lena said, taking Kara’s hands into her own. “Ho w do I know that I’ll see you again?”</p>
<p>“I’ll find my way back to you, I promise. ” Kara told her. “Go, go be with your mother.” Kara kissed Lena once more, unsure if it would be the last time, but hopeful that it wouldn’t. As Lena and Sam ran towards the inn to get their things in order, Kara wondered if she should have told her that she was headed to the capital, assure her that they would meet again. No, she couldn’t. What was she going to say?</p>
<p>“Hey, don’t worry, I’m going to the capital too! Why? Oh just in the hopes that someone who isn’t you will marry me for bringing a magical flying ship.” It sounded so horrible, too horrible to let Lena know.</p>
<p>But what Kara didn’t know, is that when Lena and Sam left the inn and got on their horses, all Lena could think about was how she kept from Kara her real identity, that she was the Princess and that her only hope for the crown was to marry someone that wasn’t her.  </p>
<p>Or so they thought.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Hopes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i dont know how regularly i'll be able to update this because of school starting up again, but i'll finish the story for sure. I'll probably need an extra day or two to finish and post each chapter because of homework and stuff but yeah</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kara’s ship was fixed eventually, although Lena and Sam were already long gone from the village by the time that the ship was in good enough shape to fly. Nia did a really good job with it, you could barely tell that it was ever slammed into the ground at high speed.</p>
<p>“It works again!” Kara said when she saw the ship hovering above the ground.</p>
<p>“It FLIES?”</p>
<p>“Oh yeah, forgot to mention that.” Kara looked through her pockets. Nothing. She didn’t have any more money after using it to pay for the inn. “I’m really sorry, I don’t have any money. How else can I repay you?”</p>
<p>Nia looked at her. “You don’t have any money?”</p>
<p>Kara shook her head. Then, she got an idea. She turned to Nia fully, and grabbed her by the shoulders. “Okay, so I know that this is a long shot of an idea, but just hear me out.” Nia gave her a confused look, prompting her to continue. “I’m going to the capital, to the castle. I’ve seen this village. It’s much too small for you and your business. Come to the capital with me, you can set up your carpentry shop there, get <em>actual </em>customers.”</p>
<p>Nia thought for a second. “No, no. I can’t. What if business there fails?”</p>
<p>“Fails? No offence, Nia, but business here isn’t exactly thriving.” Kara told her. “Besides, you get to ride in a <em>magical flying ship</em>.” Kara gave a lopsided smile and tilted her head to the side, waiting for Nia to say something. Anything.</p>
<p>“Fine.” Nia said, rolling her eyes.</p>
<p>Kara punched the air with a “yes!” and told Nia to get her things. They were going on an adventure to the capital.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>“So how exactly does all of <em>this </em>work.” Nia gestured to the ship underneath their feet.</p>
<p>“No clue.” Kara admitted.</p>
<p>“Right.” Nia said. Suddenly, Nia heard the worst ringing that she had ever heard before. It pained her ears and she covered them with her hands but it did nothing. Her head throbbed with the ringing, her knees buckled, her body fell to the floor. She wailed out in pain.</p>
<p>Kara held her still as she screamed loud, but Nia didn’t stop. She clenched her jaw and held her breath to stop herself from screaming, and thankfully, after about ten seconds of pure agony, the ringing stopped. She breathed hard, like she had been held underwater and was just now pulling her head above the surface of the water, gasping for the oxygen that she had been deprived of.</p>
<p>“What in the—” Her breathing slowed back a  normal pace. “Is that normal?”</p>
<p>“I really don’t think it is.” Kara replied. “Are you okay?”</p>
<p>Nia closed her eyes and nodded. But as soon as she did, she noticed something. She was hearing something. A person talking. Not in English though. What was that? Ukrainian? No, Russian. The man that she heard in her head was speaking Russian. She opened her eyes. Still only her and Kara.</p>
<p>“Who was that?” Nia asked. Kara just shrugged. She closed her eyes again, and this time she heard another voice. French. Something about bread, she thought. Nia didn’t know much French, but from what she learned as a kid, they were talking about bread. Then it shifted. She heard the waterfalls of brazil, the chatter of a family dinner in India, the sounds of horses galloping in Greece.</p>
<p>This is when she realized that she could now hear anything, or everything. Maybe both. What was the difference, anyway?</p>
<p>“Nia? What’s wrong?” Kara asked.</p>
<p>Nia explained, and Kara then told her about her newfound resistance to arrows. Together, they laughed about how crazy it was. They had superpowers, now. Or, at least abilities that resembled superpowers. And that was just crazy. Could you imagine them with superpowers? Or maybe even super<em>heroes</em>? It was laughable, crazy. Well, to them at least.</p>
<p>“Hey,” Kara lifted her pack from the floor of the ship. “Do you want some bread and vodka?”</p>
<p>And so they ate bread and got drunk off of vodka, and for the first time in her life, Kara felt like she truly had made a friend.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>As Kara laid on the ship staring up at the stars and trying to get some sleep before the morning came, she couldn’t help but think about Lena. How could she even <em>hope </em>to marry someone when she was so clearly in love with someone else? Should she even continue to the capital to marry the princess? And who knew if the princess even wanted her?</p>
<p>There was so much to think about and so little hours in the day. There were too many thoughts in Kara’s head to fall asleep, and so she turned over and tried to clear her mind.</p>
<p>Spoiler alert: It didn’t work.</p>
<p>Okay, first thing to work out. The flying ship. She had the flying ship, which was exactly what the queen asked for in exchange for the princess’s hand. But what if by the time that she got to the capital it was too late? What if some handsome noble already brought them a flying ship? Okay, let’s assume that she was the first. Kara was a peasant farmer from the countryside. Would the queen even agree to the marriage? Or would she just take the ship and kick Kara out to the curb?</p>
<p>Okay, then, if the Queen agreed to the marriage, would the princess? There were two things to consider then. Whether or not the princess liked girls, and whether or not the princess liked <em>her</em>. Let’s assume then that the princess agreed to marry her. Then what? What if Kara didn’t like the princess at all? What if the princess was an awful person? Would she still go through with marrying her?</p>
<p>Okay, let’s assume then that Kara did, in fact like the princess and the princess liked her back and the queen approved and got her flying ship. What then? They would be married, but what about the girl from the market, Alena? Would Kara still love her, or would she forget about her because of the princess?</p>
<p>For this to go perfectly, or even well, all the planets in the solar system would need to align.</p>
<p>Should she even <em>take </em>that chance? Or just turn around right now?</p>
<p>Technically, if the princess rejected her, then she could meet with Lena again, but that didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel right that she was picking a woman that she had never even met as first and the woman that she had fallen in love with as a second choice. As a backup.</p>
<p>But, if she turned around, then she would just go back to her life of watery gruel and hard labour. She had to do this, if not for herself, then for her aging parents who deserved a better life. And she could give them that better life in the capital, and hopefully, in the castle.</p>
<p>She turned back to the stars, staring up at them. Eventually, she drifted off into sleep.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Thinking</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>this chapters a bit short but i hope its still good? Anyways, thanks for everyone who gave this story a chance and clicked on it and are still reading it.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Is something wrong, Princess Lena?” Sam asked when they got back to the castle.</p>
<p>“No, nothing’s wrong.” Lena said. Sam could tell that she was lying straight through her teeth. She raised an eyebrow at Lena.</p>
<p>“You’re not the same.” Sam told her. “This is about that girl, isn’t it? The one that you were with this morning?”</p>
<p>Lena didn’t say anything, but Sam knew that it was true. Lillian had faked an illness in order to bring Lena back from her mini vacation. If she hadn’t have done that, Lena would still be with Kara, probably holding hands or kissing her on the forehead or something stupid and sweet like that.</p>
<p>Because that was all that she wanted, really. Something so, so stupidly sweet that it makes people gag with how cheesy it is. She wanted to be that person who loves someone so much that other people roll their eyes in public, like “there are those two young lovebirds again”. She wanted to hold someone’s hand. She wanted to pick flowers for them. She wanted to make breakfast for them in the morning, watch plays at the theatre, sing songs and dance with them. No, not just anybody. She wanted to do it with Kara.</p>
<p>But she couldn’t. She wasn’t allowed to marry a peasant. Well, unless that peasant had a flying ship, but Kara didn’t. Her only hope was to marry someone else, to forget about Kara forever.</p>
<p>Or was it? Suddenly, an idea sprung into Lena’s head. Sure, Lex would be a terrible ruler, but he would also be a passive one. Lillian actively did horrible things to the kingdom in favor of herself, she <em>wanted</em> the world to burn. But Lex, he didn’t <em>care </em>whether or not the world burned as long as he got whatever he wanted.</p>
<p>If Lex took the throne, she would be able to marry Kara in secret. At that point, it wouldn’t matter whether she married a rich man or a peasant because it was Lex and his spouse in power, not her. But, even though Lena wouldn’t technically have the crown, she could still help the kingdom. Granted, not as much, but it was better than nothing, which was what she could do under Lillian’s rule.</p>
<p>But before Lex could take the throne, one thing had to happen. She had to kill Lillian.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>“You want me to kill our mother?” Lex asked.</p>
<p>“Yes, basically.” Lena explained. It was late enough that most of the castle had gone to sleep, and she had Lex dismiss the guards from his room before they started talking. This was, obviously, a sensitive topic. Hopefully, a topic that Lex could get on board with.</p>
<p>“Why? What’s in it for you?” Lex narrowed his eyes.</p>
<p>“Dear brother, you’re asking the wrong questions. It’s not about me. Think about what’s in it for <em>you</em>. The crown, the jewels, the riches, the power.” Lena told him.</p>
<p>Lex chuckled. “Like you’re ever going to give up your position as heir.” Lena shrugged. Lex, soon, caught on. “Oh my god. You’re giving up your position as heir.” Lex rubbed his head. “Well then, how are we going to kill the queen?”</p>
<p>Lena smiled. This was <em>actually </em>happening. Lex <em>actually </em>going along with her plan? It was unlikely, but apparently not impossible.</p>
<p>Within the next hour, they had it all planned out. It wouldn’t be hard to get close to her, she was their mother and all, but what the hard part would be was finding a way to finish the job without anyone knowing that it was her.</p>
<p>Poison, they decided, was the best option. They could slip a bit into her food, and within a couple of hours, the chemicals would do the rest.</p>
<p>Still, although the queen was terrible to everyone around her, not just as a ruler, but as a person and a mother, Lena wondered if this was the right thing to do. She knew that she loved Kara, but was she willing to kill for her? Was it right? Lena initially had convinced herself to propose the plan to Lex by telling herself this was for the greater good.</p>
<p>It was for the kingdom and everyone in it, freeing them from a corrupt and tyrannical queen. But there was also a sort of selfishness in Lillian’s proposed death. If she was really doing it for the kingdom, she would have married one of her suitors, taken the crown, and made life better for everyone. But she didn’t. She ran away with her maid to some village and fell in love with a commoner.</p>
<p>No, not just a commoner. A peasant. That was unforgivable, at least in the eyes of her ancestors. </p>
<p>But she could still fix this. She could still marry some random guy and do what was best for her people. Except she couldn’t. Not really. She couldn’t bring herself to marry a man that she did not love when the woman that she <em>did </em>love was out there somewhere, hopefully thinking of her as much as she thought of her.</p>
<p>And what would happen after Lillian’s death? Lena would be haunted by what she had done. Killing someone was no small deal. Unlike other punishments, death was permanent. You can never <em>un-</em>kill someone. They will be erased from the earth forever, erased from the universe.</p>
<p>But still, there were hard decisions that she had to make as a royal.</p>
<p> As she laid her head down on her pillow to rest at night, Lena wondered what Kara was up to, what she was doing right now. Maybe she was also trying to go to sleep, unable to because of the hard decision that needed to be made. Or maybe she was already asleep, the sun had long gone down by now and she didn’t exactly know her sleeping habits. Or, she could be the opposite: awake. Maybe she was having a drink at the tavern, or in her room. Maybe she was alone, or with a friend. Or, hopefully not, someone who was <em>more </em>than a friend. Maybe she was thinking of Lena, no. Hopefully, she was thinking of Lena.</p>
<p>They used to say that when someone randomly pops into your head it means that they’re thinking of you, but Lena’s thoughts were not random. They were very much anticipated. And so she wondered and wondered until she fell into a deep, drowsy sleep.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. The Frying Pan Man</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>this took such a long time to right and its not even a very long chapter like whats going on</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kara and Nia were well into their journey to the capital by now. Nia was still new at the whole magical flying ship thing and it still surprised her when she found out stuff about it, but Kara had become a pretty good sailor over the past few days and she had gotten used to waking up in the clouds.</p><p>“Morning!” Nia said, eating some of Kara’s bread as Kara rubbed her eyes and woke up. “You know, you really shouldn’t rub your eyes too much. It’s not good for you.”</p><p>“You seem happy.” Kara said.</p><p>“I <em>finally </em>figured out how to use my powers properly.” Nia told her. “I was up all night because I couldn’t sleep with all the sounds in my head, and then I decided to try and figure out how all of this works. And eventually I did.”</p><p>Nia closed her eyes hard and said, “watch.” She heard the sounds of her family, of her mother and her father and her sister eating breakfast together in a village far from the one that Nia was in before she boarded the ship.</p><p>“They’re talking about the dog. How he’s been getting restless and needs to stop being afraid of storms.” Nia said, listening. She opened her eyes again. “I didn’t know that they got a dog.” Nia smiled wide at her new powers, and her happiness spread to Kara like an infectious disease and she smiled too.</p><p>As the morning sun rose, they ate bread and meat and cheese, courtesy of Nia, and she told Kara all about her new powers and the night she had while Kara was sleeping. She talked in her sleep, apparently.</p><p>“No I don’t.” Kara said. “I don’t talk in my sleep.”</p><p>“Well you can’t know yourself because you’re asleep when it happens.” Nia told her. “I heard it though. You didn’t talk in complete sentences, mostly just muttering random words every so often.”</p><p>“What did I say?”</p><p>“A name, mostly. Alena, I think?”</p><p>Kara’s cheeks went red and she looked down, smiling to nobody in particular. <em>Of course</em>, she thought. <em>Of course it was Alena</em>.</p><p>“Ooh, who’s Alena?” She asked.</p><p>“Nobody. Well, she’s somebody, but I don’t think you would know her.” Kara said.</p><p>“Well, obviously she’s special to you. You kept going on about her in your weird broken dream talk all night.”</p><p>“You didn’t get <em>any </em>sleep last night?” Kara asked.</p><p>“Not much, but I didn’t need it anyway. I usually get like, fourteen hours of sleep every night so I was good on energy to last me a while.”</p><p>“I don’t think that’s how it works but okay.”</p><p>*</p><p>As they flew among the clouds, Kara watched the villages from up above, the buildings, the houses, the people. It was then that they heard a sound. A voice. A woman’s voice. No, no. A woman’s <em>scream</em>. Kara and Nia rushed to the side of the ship so quickly that the ship almost tilted over with the dramatic shift in weight, but magical ships apparently had auto-stabilization.</p><p>They looked down, and the screams became clearer and clearer. There was a woman outside of her house, running and screaming as a man chased her with a frying pan. They couldn’t ignore it. They <em>had </em>to interfere. Kara looked at Nia and wordlessly, Nia agreed. Kara went up to the wheel of the ship and brought it lower and lower and closer to the screaming woman and the frying pan wielding man.</p><p>“Hey!” Kara yelled, exiting the ship. The man paid no attention. “Hey!” She said again, louder and approaching the man. He still paid no attention. Then, one last time, Kara yelled, louder than both times combined. She grabbed his arm and gripped it hard, using the muscles that she had from her years of farm work.</p><p>“Who the hell are you?” The man asked.</p><p>“I could ask you the same thing.” Kara told him. Nia was with the woman, who had since stopped screaming. They were all watching Kara and the man. “You should put the pan down.”</p><p>The man laughed. “I don’t have to listen to you! Go back to the kitchen, little girl.”</p><p>This struck a chord with her. Kara’s eyes widened, her cheeks went red, her nostrils flared, and her grip on his arm tightened. And tightened. And tightened. She could tell that he was trying his hardest not to wail out in pain. The man clenched his teeth, sucked on the roof of his mouth, and took a breath in. Nia and the woman couldn’t take their eyes off of Kara.</p><p>“Say that again.” Kara told him, her voice harsh and unforgiving.</p><p>“I said,” He spat. “Get back in the kitchen, and go make me a sandwich.”</p><p>Kara grabbed his hand with her other arm, bending his finger backwards until…</p><p>CRACK.</p><p>This was when he couldn’t keep quiet anymore. He screamed loud, louder than the woman did, and held his hand in pain, doubling over, his knees buckling.</p><p>“You’re crazy! You’re crazy!”</p><p>Kara ignored him and approached the woman, now much calmer.</p><p>“Thank you, thank you.” The woman told her. “I don’t know what to say.”</p><p>“Are you alright?” Kara asked.</p><p>“Now I am, I think.”</p><p>“She’s bleeding.” Nia chimed in. “She’s covered in bruises, too.” The woman went shy. Nia and Kara looked at each other and knew what they needed to do.  “Come with us. We’re going to the capital, and we want you to come.”</p><p>The woman looked at Kara, then at Nia, and then at her husband. She thought for a moment, and she finally spoke.</p><p>“Okay.”</p><p>They all ran towards the ship, the man screaming curses at them, telling them that they couldn’t just take his wife and that they’ll regret it and all of that stuff.</p><p>They hurried back to the ship and climbed aboard, the woman questioning why in the world the ship was on land and how it could possibly sail. Kara just smiled  and went behind the wheel. The woman gasped as it started to hover over the grass, and down below them, the man looked on in awe at this magical flying ship that had his now ex wife aboard it.</p><p>*</p><p>“Thanks,” The woman said. “For saving me, I mean.”</p><p>“It’s nothing, really. Anyone would have done the same.” Nia told her as she bandaged the woman’s bleeding arm. Every touch that came on her skin would sting the blue and purple bruises all over her limbs. She was eating a loaf of bread, which she initially declined but with enough pestering took into her hands. They were once soft and delicate, now turned hard and calloused. “There. All done.”</p><p>Nia put down the bandages that came from the magical barrels on the ship, which the woman was still kind of confused about. Kara did her best to describe the whole magical powers and forever fresh bread, but it was a lot to take in.</p><p>“So, you’re going to the capital in hopes of marrying a princess even though you’re in love with someone else who <em>also </em>lives in the capital.” The woman turned to Nia. “And <em>you’re </em>going to the capital because your business was failing and you need a new place to set up shop?”</p><p>“Yeah basically.” Kara said. Then she realized that she had taken a stranger aboard her magical flying ship and she didn’t even know her name. “Hey, I never asked your name. What is it?”</p><p>“Oh, right.” The woman said. “My name is Alex.”</p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0012"><h2>12. A Poisonous Plan</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>ive been really busy with school and all, but i am personally determined to finish this fic. Hopefully you guys are determined to finish it 2?</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was the day. The day that Lena would kill her mother. Well, technically Lex would do the deed and be the perpetrator, as per his request, but Lena would definitely have a part in the crime.</p><p>It wasn’t easy, killing the queen, but being her daughter and the heir to the throne made it easy to get close. But that wasn’t her job. She didn’t need to get <em>close</em>, she needed to <em>kill </em>her. Obviously, they couldn’t just slip a sword in between her lungs, they needed to make it look clean. They needed to make it look natural. That’s when Lena remembered something.</p><p>When she was younger, she would spend hours and hours in the castle library, reading and absorbing knowledge and stories of every kind. She remembered one word in that moment. Strychnine. It was a poison with no antidote. She would die and they would not be able to save her.</p><p>Strychnine first starts shutting down the body and causing convulsions, with a high dose it’ll cause brain death in around twenty five minutes, but with a small dose it’ll cause seizures, cramping, stiffness, all of that. Eventually, you’ll die, probably from complications from the seizures, but that’s only if you take a really low dose. What Lex and Lena were planning was to kill her fast and easy.</p><p>“Where are we going to get this, exactly?” Lex asked.</p><p>“Apothecaries? Herbalists? There are a lot of shady people in this kingdom, I’ll find one and buy from them.”</p><p>“Be careful, you don’t want to get killed on the way back, then we’ll lose the poison <em>and </em>money.”</p><p>Lena looked at him. “Is that all you care about? The poison and money?”</p><p>“I’m just saying, Lena.” Lex told her. “And plus, I could have just declined your whole matricide offer and told mother about you plotting to kill her and all and ruined your whole plan. But I didn’t. I think a <em>thanks </em>is in order here.”</p><p>“Alright then.” Lena said. “Say thanks.”</p><p>Lex and Lena simultaneously rolled their eyes and went back to plotting.</p><hr/><p>Kara, Nia, and Alex had been flying long enough for Alex to find out what kind of power that the ship had given her. Alex’s pocket held a little spoon made out of clay that she used to measure spices whenever she cooked. However, it had fallen out of her pocket. Right into a little pot of water.</p><p>The clay darkened with the water, absorbing the moisture and softening to the point that it was moldable and flexible. Alex, who no longer needed to measure spices for her husband’s meals, played with the molding clay, shaping in into spheres, rectangles, houses, bowls, and little people.</p><p>But then, something changed. When she shaped the clay into a person, the clay glowed and hardened, and then it moved. It moved and it breathed and its little eyes blinked open and Alex jumped back and it stood up. It was no more than two inches tall, she didn’t have much clay, after all. But it was alive. The clay person was <em>alive. </em></p><p>Alex’s shrieks attracted the attention of Kara and Nia, who all watched the little person in fascination, and Kara confirmed that yes, she could also see the little person moving and that Alex wasn’t crazy. Alex, eventually, kneeled down next to the little clay person, and asked whether or not this was normal for the ship.</p><p>“Random powers showing up out of nowhere? Yeah.” Nia told her. “I’m guessing that yours is making people out of clay. Just purely from observations.”</p><p>Alex reached out her hand to the little clay person, and it climbed up on her palm. She stood up and the little clay person seemed scared, but Alex managed to comfort it.</p><p>“Hey, little guy.” Alex said to the clay person. “I guess I’m your mom now. I mean, I made you and all.”</p><p>“Name him.” Kara chimed in. “You can’t just keep calling it ‘clay person’, you know.”</p><p>Alex thought for a second. “I’ll name you Alex Junior. June for short.”</p><p>June smiled through his little clay mouth that was basically just a slit that Alex made with her nail and his smile made Alex smile, which in turn made Nia smile and Kara smile. And they were all on this flying ship smiling with a little clay person named June that was born just now.</p><hr/><p>One person who wasn’t smiling? Lena.</p><p>She had spent all day trying to find strychnine, wearing her hooded cloak and a mask to conceal her face while she visited apothecaries and herbalists, one after another not having what she was looking for. Eventually, though, she found the poison that she needed. And, she slipped it into the dessert that her mother would eat after the main course at dinnertime.</p><p>Lex, who had little to no interest in slipping a seed poison into food and was expecting something more gruesome and bloody, convinced his mother into holding a full dinner that night. They had been at the dining table for an hour and desert was just about to be served.</p><p>“That was a really good soup.” Lillian had said after the appetizer. They were anxiously waiting for the main course to be served.</p><p>“That was a really good lamb.” Lillian had said after the main course. They were now anxiously waiting for the desert to be served. “Very  filling. Maybe I should pass on dessert, I don’t want to go out of shape.”</p><p>“No!” Lex and Lena said simultaneously. Lillian looked at them.</p><p>“I mean,” Lena started. “You’re already in great shape, one dessert won’t hurt.”</p><p>Lillian shrugged. “I guess not.”</p><p>And finally, dessert was served. It was a chocolate mousse that was presented in front of each of them, the one marked for Lillian was the one that Lena slipped the strychnine into.</p><p>“Chocolate mousse. A French dessert.” The servant who had brought in the dessert announced while placing the dish in front of Lillian. Lena and Lex looked at each other and nodded. Lillian picked up the little spoon that she was given, digging it into the mousse and lifting it up to her mouth.</p><p>It felt like the whole world was in slow motion as they watched the tainted mousse get closer to Lillian’s face. But then she stopped.</p><p>“Well, go on, eat.” Lillian told them.</p><p>They quickly took spoonfuls of their own mousse and swallowed it down, remarking on how good it was. In reality, neither of them could really focus on the taste of the dessert, they were much too busy waiting for Lillian to take a bite.</p><p>And then she did.</p><p>Lex and Lena waited for her response.</p><p>“This is a really good dessert.” Lillian said, taking another spoonful. And another. And another. It would take few minutes for the poison to work, so she would finish the mousse before the convulsions would start. Eventually, the dish holding the mousse was empty, and Lillian’s stomach was full.</p><p>Lena and Lex looked at each other. The convulsions should be starting right about….</p><p>Now!</p><p>But they didn’t. They looked at each other again. Lillian was fine. She got up, and she walked away, and she was fine.</p><p>“What?” Lex mouthed.</p><p>“I don’t know.” Lena mouthed back.</p><p>They went into the hallway, following the queen and seeing if she was any different. She wasn’t. They asked how she was feeling. She was feeling fine.</p><p>“Maybe it’ll just take a night. We should go to bed and see how it is in the morning.” Lex told Lena when they got a moment alone. Lena agreed and they all went to their separate chambers.</p><hr/><p>“What’s that?” Alex asked, June on her shoulder, Nia laying down looking at the sky and Kara at the wheel.</p><p>Nia sat up. “<em>Who </em>is that?”</p><p>Screaming, no. Yelling. Loud and getting louder. Alex looked over the edge of the ship, and saw something that terrified her. Mon El. Aka, her abusive (ex) husband. But he wasn’t alone. Two people were next to him, whom Alex would later find out were named Kelly and James Olsen.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Here we go, mediocre chapter of the week.</p>
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<a name="section0013"><h2>13. An Attack</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i WILL finish this story. I will do it. I'm not going to abandon it and stop updating because we're SO CLOSE. or, i am at least. To finishing the story, i mean. <br/>Anyways, here's the next chapter. There's two more after this and then we're going to be done with it. Wild.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“What’s going on?” Kara asked as Alex begged her to fly the ship faster. “This is as fast as it gets!” The ship was under attack. Even though it was high above the villages, Mon El and the two people with him were shooting arrows at the ship. And they weren’t all that bad shots.</p><p>“They’re attacking us.” Nia chimed in, pulling an arrow out of the side of the ship.</p><p>Kara needed to make a decision as to what to do now. She couldn’t give up Alex, not to someone like Mon El. Even if she could, she wouldn’t. She said, “hold on. And grab those weapons from the barrels.” She yanked the steering wheel of the ship so fast that it almost knocked Nia and Alex off their feet. They were going to fight.</p><p>The ship lowered, surprising Mon El and his company, and they hopped off the deck and onto the ground swiftly and quickly. They didn’t bother landing the ship completely, it was still hovering a couple inches off the ground. Kara and Nia were a lot braver than Alex was, at least at this point.</p><p>“Come back with me, Alex.” Mon El said, his bow still drawn.</p><p>“Go to hell.” Alex yelled from behind Kara.</p><p>“Lower your weapon.” Kara told him, nodding her head towards his bow.</p><p>“No way! Lower yours and surrender my wife.”</p><p>“She’s not your wife anymore.” Kara stepped closer to Mon El, not afraid of him. Nia held her bow aimed at his head, but Kara was only armed with her dagger. As she stepped closer, she watched James and Kelly with her peripheral vision but kept her eyes on Mon El. Mon El did not back down, nor did he lower his bow. “I said, lower your weapon.” Kara swiped at the bow with her dagger, cutting through the tip of his arrow with one swift motion.</p><p>“Shoot!”  Mon El yelled, and instantly the two that he was with shot at Kara.</p><p>But the arrows just bounced off her skin like a basketball off the pavement. The three looked at each other in confusion, lowering their guard just long enough for Kara to disarm each of them and for Kara to put Mon El in a headlock, her knife blade cold against Mon El’s hot skin. She looked over at Nia, who had gotten the hint and taken the girl, Kelly, over by the wrists.</p><p>They all glared at James. His eyes grew wide before he looked down at his unarmed hands, then back up at the girls, and then at the very vulnerable Mon El. He ran fast with his back turned to the ship and crossing his fingers that he wouldn’t be killed.</p><p>“Give it up. You’re not so powerful now, are you?” Kara said. Mon El spat in her face, or tried to at least. He ended up putting his saliva all over the ground and on the tip of his boots, but none on Kara. “Easy, now.” She ran the blade of her dagger along his skin until the tip was positioned right at Mon El’s throat. He tried to fight back, but his scrawny body was no match for Kara’s young farmer-turned-sailor strength, and he could barely move from the position that Kara had him in. </p><p>“What’s going to happen <em>now,</em>” Kara started, tightening her grip on his neck. “Is that we’re going to take Alex back on to our ship and leave and you’re going to let us. Then, you’ll go back to your little miserable life by yourself and never bother us or anybody else again, and you’ll never, ever, get married ever again because you don’t deserve being loved by someone that you will hurt.” Kara leaned in to his ear. “And if I ever hear anything about you hurting anyone else ever again, I will <em>personally </em>drive this little dagger here into your flesh. Got that?”</p><p>He nodded, scared. Kara loosened her grip on him and her knife, and as she watched him run away terrified of her, she put her blade back into its sheath and turned to Alex and Nia. What she <em>hadn’t</em> thought of was that Kelly was still pressed against the side of the ship with her wrists behind her back.</p><p>“That was badass, Kara.” Nia told her. “But what about this one?” She jerked her head towards Kelly.</p><p>“Kind of forgot about her.”</p><p>“Do we… kill her?”</p><p>“Oh, oh god no! We don’t kill people, Nia. That’s too far, too far.” Kara said. “I don’t know, tie her up or something. We’ll take her to the capital and figure out what to do then.”</p><p>Nia and Alex looked at each other, shrugged, and then did as Kara said. Kara, on the other hand, was thinking about how she was kind of getting the hang of this captain thing.</p><p>*</p><p>“Where are you taking me?” The woman that they had kind of maybe taken hostage asked.</p><p>“Keep quiet.” Alex snapped.</p><p>“Hey!” She did <em>not </em>keep quiet. “I’m a person, you know?”</p><p>Alex rolled her eyes, but she knew that the woman was right. “Okay fine, <em>person</em>. But if you wanted me to see you as a human being you shouldn’t have helped my ex try to capture me.” Alex kneeled down, letting June get off of her shoulder.</p><p>“I don’t <em>know </em>your ex. Well, yeah I helped him and all, but a girl’s got to pay the bills, you know?” The woman told her. “I’m Kelly, by the way.”</p><p>Alex turned towards Kelly. “Pay the bills?”</p><p>Kelly was taken by surprise at her question. She was expecting Alex to yell at her, to bind the ropes that tied around her tighter to shut her up and let them travel in peace. “Yeah. Property bills, income taxes—”</p><p>“I know what bills are.” Alex told her. “I meant,” she leaned in. “You don’t have a <em>real </em>job?”</p><p>“Hey!” Kelly seemed a bit offended at this. “Mercenary <em>is </em>a real job. Granted, business is slow and all and you’re constantly throwing up at the thought of actually killing someone, but it’s a job nonetheless.”</p><p>“So you’ve never actually… killed someone?”</p><p>“Are you questioning my ability to do my job?”</p><p>“Well considering that we have you tied up right now, yes.”</p><p>And then she did something that Alex wasn’t really expecting. No, something that Alex wasn’t at <em>all </em>expecting. She <em>laughed</em>. Kelly was <em>laughing</em>. She laughed and suddenly Alex felt like laughing too, and so she did, and they kind of liked it, laughing together. It was almost comical, the situation that they were in. A really bad mercenary being held hostage by three idiots in a magical flying ship? They laughed at that.</p><p>When they stopped laughing, Alex asked Kelly one thing.</p><p>“Do you want some vodka?”</p><p>*</p><p>They were there. They had reached the capital. It had finally happened. After this long, sometimes exciting journey, they had reached the capital. It was bustling with people, stray dogs, and the closer they got to the castle, guards and knights.</p><p>All of them looked on in wonder as they watched the ship fly above their heads, above their buildings, all whispering to each other and every child calling to their parents to observe the spectacle that was the flying ship. The skies were blue, clear, and the sun shined bright on the cream colored masts of the ship. The vibrant sky contrasted the deep brown of the wood that made up the ship, and as they effortlessly floated over the big walls guarding the castle, everyone aboard the ship looked over the sides and down at the castle.</p><p>The castle was bigger than anything that any of them had ever seen before. It was staffed with hundreds, maybe even thousands of people working around the clock to provide for the royal family. One member of the royal family, in fact, was immediately called out to witness the impossibly flying ship. Queen Lillian, who was, in fact, very much still alive.</p><p>“Is that…”</p><p>“The queen. It’s the queen.”</p>
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<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Saving Kara</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>and here it is, the penultimate chapter. I'm planning on ending the story after this chapter, but if you want me to, i can write a epilogue. It doesn't really matter to me, i'm down to write one if i know someone's down to read it, but yeah. </p><p>Enjoy the chapter!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“But you’re a… <em>peasant</em>.” Lillian said, staring down the girl who was standing before her. She was blonde, her hands rough and her arms strong, but her clothes wrinkled and made from cheap cloth. She said that her name was Kara, and that she had come from far away to bring her a flying ship.</p><p>But this <em>couldn’t </em>be happening. Magic didn’t exist, much less magical flying ships matching the exact description of the impossible object that Lillian had described in order to prevent her daughter from marrying and taking the throne.</p><p>“Well yes, technically, but I brought you a flying ship, which is exactly what you asked for.” Kara replied. “And now, I’m expecting you to keep your part of the deal.”</p><p>Lillian was dumbfounded. “But you’re a <em>woman</em>. And a <em>peasant</em>. I can’t let a peasant marry my daughter.” Lillian crossed her arms, a firm and slightly smug look on her face while Kara stood in front of her swallowing hard.</p><p>“Your highness, if I may?” One of her advisors said from beside her. Lillian nodded and they took a second away from Kara and company. “The entire kingdom saw the ship <em>and </em>they know about the deal. If you don’t go through with it, the kingdom will surely get suspicious, and might even turn on you.”</p><p>Lillian considered for a second before rolling her eyes, turning to Kara and saying, “fine.” Kara fist bumped Alex and Nia while Lillian just watched on in confusion, and told them that Kara will be taken to the guest chambers for the night. Kara thanked her, and then smiled wide, taking in every single brick of the castle, every guard and every little mouse that ran next to the walls. She took them in because in her head she was imagining her life there, in the castle. She was <em>actually </em>going to live there. Well, hopefully she was.</p><p>*</p><p>“What are we going to do about the girl, Kara?” Lillian asked her son.</p><p> They were in Lillian’s bedchambers that night, and she had asked all of the guards and servants to leave before having the conversation, so the room was awkwardly bare that night. Sure, there were thick curtains and bed sheets and big cabinets made from dark wood and gold and silver and diamond jewelry everywhere, but the  usual four or five people in the room was turned to just two— mother and son.</p><p>“You have to kill her. And you <em>have </em>to make it look like an accident.” Lex replied.</p><p>Since the poisoning plan didn’t work, (they deduced that the plants they were sold were fakes), Lex fell back on Lillian’s plan of not letting Lena marry until Lex did. He didn’t care <em>how </em>he claimed the throne, only that he claimed it, and claimed it soon.</p><p>“How? They’re going to meet soon and they might elope, but we can’t let that happen. Now that she’s here, we have to kill her quickly and swiftly. And we <em>can’t</em> let her meet Lena.”</p><p>Together, Lillian and Lex thought and plotted and thought some more until a lightbulb went off  in Lex’s head and they devised a plan.</p><hr/><p>On the other side of the living wing of the castle, Kara, Nia, Alex and Kelly admired the décor and riches of the guest chambers. Since they had landed in the capital and met the queen, Kelly had come up with a discovery. She could control temperatures. It was true, they were asked whether they would like some tea by the staff and they replied that they would and when they were brought the tea, Kelly remarked to herself that she wished it was a bit warmer as it had gone cold due to the distance between the living wing and the kitchen. And then it started steaming. And then it started boiling. Kelly couldn’t help but to quickly set the teacup down on the table they were sitting at, and the others couldn’t help but to look on in awe  at Kelly’s newfound power.</p><p>She could not only make things hotter, but colder as well. She pressed a finger to the teacup and thought to herself that she wanted it to be cooler, cool enough so that she could lift the teacup and put it to her mouth without burning her flesh and almost instantly the tea went cool enough to drink. She tried it on the sheets of the bed, and even on the skin of her friends, all proving her theory of being able to control temperatures.</p><p>At this point there was too much going on to hate Kelly for trying to kidnap Alex and they had received specific instruction not to leave the guest chambers for the night and so they, as they did on the flying ship, drank vodka and ate fresh loaves of bread.</p><p>Kara didn’t know what the princess was like, Princess Lena. she didn’t know what she looked like and she didn’t know whether or not she would like her, much less agree to marry her. But she was keeping her head up and hoping for the best.</p><p>“Hey, Nia?” Kara asked.</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>“So, you can like, hear anything in the world, right?”</p><p>“Yeah, pretty much.”</p><p>Kara went shy. “Could you maybe help me out with something? I met this girl at the market, her name was Alena and I don’t really know much about her except she lives in the capital and her name is Alena, but could you maybe try hearing if she’s alright?”</p><p>Nia shrugged and went to work. Alena, alena, alena. She tried and tried but she didn’t get anything. There was nobody in the capital matching Kara’s description named Alena. Nia looked back at Kara, who had this dumb and hopeful look on her face, and shook her head sadly.</p><p>Kara knew that she shouldn’t be thinking about her, not when she had come all this way to ask for another woman’s hand. But she couldn’t stop. She really, really wished that Alena and the princess were the same person, but she knew that it couldn’t be. She <em>had </em>to pick, and her choice was the princess. Or maybe it was Alena. Or maybe the princess. No, Alena.</p><p>Kara wasn’t all that decisive when she was tired, and so she slept.</p><hr/><p>“Have you heard, Princess Lena?” Sam asked. “Someone brought in a flying ship.”</p><p>Lena’s ears perked up and she turned to Sam.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>Sam repeated herself but Lena told her that she heard her, it was just <em>really </em>hard to believe. Flying ships didn’t exist, did they? Magic didn’t exist, so how could magical flying ships exist? It was crazy, impossible. But apparently not. Apparently they existed?</p><p>“Who is it?” Lena asked. “The person who brought the ship, who is it?”</p><p>“That’s the thing.” Sam said. “Nobody knows. Well, except the queen of course. And a couple staff members. Apparently Lillian asked them to go to the guest chambers and they have specific orders not to leave until the morning.”</p><p>“This is because of me, isn’t it? They’re locked in because Lillian doesn’t want me to meet him. She’s scared we’re going to secretly get married or something, isn’t she?” Lena sucked her teeth. “This is awful. I feel really bad for whoever brought that ship. He doesn’t know that I’m in love with someone else. He doesn’t know that I can’t marry him.”</p><p>“Then don’t marry him.” Sam told her.</p><p>Lena looked confused.</p><p>“You don’t <em>owe </em>anyone anything. If you don’t want to marry him, then don’t. If you love that girl from the market, then go find her. Go marry her instead.”</p><p>“But Sam—”</p><p>“No, don’t do that. Just because your mom promised your hand in some attempt to keep you from getting married, which obviously didn’t work, doesn’t mean you have to keep that promise. After all, you have free will.”</p><p>And as much as Lena didn’t want to admit it, Sam was right.</p><p>*</p><p>When Nia awoke in the morning, it wasn’t a normal, slow and sleepy start to the day. It was with a jolt, like she had woke up from a nightmare.</p><p>“THE BATH!” Nia yelled as she sprung up into a seated position. This, obviously woke up the rest of the shipmates who were all staying in the same room. Kara rubbed her eyes as she focused them on Nia, who was sweating profusely and red from the heat.</p><p>“What are you talking about?” Kara asked.</p><p>“I heard it, Queen Lillian wants to kill you. She’s going to kill you in the bathhouse today!” Nia exclaimed.</p><p>“What?” Kara asked. “You’re just dreaming, she’s not going to do anything like that.”</p><p>Nia sprung to her feet. “No, no! It’s true, I know it. She wants to kill you. I heard it with my powers, I’m sure of it. It wasn’t a dream. She’s going to turn the water up so high that you burn to death. I’m telling you, Kara. She’s going to kill you.”</p><p>“That’s ridiculous, Nia. It was probably just your brain coming up with things. She won’t <em>kill </em>me.”</p><p>KNOCK, KNOCK.</p><p>They looked at the door. Kara rolled her eyes and went to go and open it. They all watched in suspense, waiting to see who it was and whether or not they were holding a sword meant for killing Kara. Kara opened the door and behind it stood not a dangerous assassin, but a simple servant holding a towel.</p><p>“Ms. Danvers?”</p><p>“Yes, that’s me.”</p><p>“Your towel for your bath.” The servant handed her the towel and Kara took it, tilting her head respectfully and thanking the servant. Then, as she began to close the door, the servant stopped it with their foot, opening it wider once more. “No, no. The queen <em>specifically </em>asked for the iron bathhouse to be prepared for your bathing pleasure.” The servant smiled.</p><p>Kara could hear Nia whispering “told you” to Alex behind her.</p><p>“Of course.” Kara said, her voice shaking. “Just give me a second and I’ll be right down.”</p><p>The servant bowed their head and closed the door behind them as they waited outside. Kara, as soon as the door closed, turned towards Alex, Kelly and Nia with her eyes wide and her mouth dry with nervousness, and said to them:</p><p>“Okay, okay. So she’s trying to burn me in an iron bathhouse. What do I do?”</p><p>It didn’t take them long before they remembered one very convenient fact. They had someone with them who could control temperatures. They looked at Kelly, and Kelly agreed to the plan. After all, what else was she going to do? Say no? Saving Kara benefitted her more than letting her die and so Kelly preferred keeping her new friends alive.</p><p>And so when Kara went to take her bath and the water started rising in temperature, Kelly pressed a finger to the outside of the iron bathhouse and turned the heat down. When the water started dropping in temperature, Kelly pressed a finger to the outside of the iron bathhouse and turned the heat up. You can imagine the surprise on Lillian’s face when Kara exited the bathhouse not only very much alive, but also remarking about the perfect water temperature that was hitting her skin.</p><p>And so, once the morning went and the afternoon came, Lillian and Lex had to think up another plan. They needed a more direct approach to this.</p><p>“Before you marry my daughter, you must prove yourself worthy of her hand.” Lillian told Kara at lunch. “You must battle my soldiers, my knights. Prove yourself worthy and prove your ability to protect this kingdom, and you’ll be wed to the princess.”</p><p>But Lillian didn’t just send one or two soldiers to fight Kara, she sent three. And not only was the battle not in a typical battlefield or battle situation, but in the guest chambers. And not only those two things, but the knights were armed and Kara was not. Lillian thought, surely the knights will kill her, if not on purpose then on accident. She smirked and went along on her day.</p><p>But Kara had something that the knights did not. Kara had some<em>one </em>that the knights did not. Alex. And so Alex crafted with her hands three knights out of clay and sent them to Kara’s side as the battle began. The knights, confused at where the new three knights had come from and why they looked a bit odd, were no match for Kara and the clay soldiers. She did not allow the knights to be killed, only disarmed and vulnerable before letting them go.</p><p>Well, disarmed, vulnerable and scared.</p><p>Having survived both of the queen’s assassination attempts, Kara felt good about herself. Lillian, however, was even more determined than ever to kill Kara. She decided that you should never send a servant to do a queen’s work, and she armed herself with a single bow and three arrows after dinnertime concluded.</p><p>The nights in the kingdom were dark, the stars overhead being the only source of light aside from the bright and cratered moon. As Lillian crept into the guest chambers, she was careful to be quiet and to step over the bodies of all of Kara’s sleeping friends. The bow and arrow was quick, quiet, and accurate. Just what she needed to kill Kara herself. She put the arrow in the bow, positioning it with the utmost caution, and pulled back. She pointed the bow at the heart of the sleeping woman, and with a grin on her face, she let go.</p><p>Kara awoke with a start as she felt the arrow. But it didn’t pierce her skin. It couldn’t. Instead, the head of the arrow just bounced right off of her chest… right into the heart of the queen. Lillian looked down at her chest, the arrowhead having pierced through and entered her heart, and fell over. And before Kara could do anything, before Kara could get any help, she knew one thing and one thing for sure.</p><p>The queen was dead.</p>
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<a name="section0015"><h2>15. A Wedding and A Funeral</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>here it is. the last chapter. this has been a long, wild ride. Thank you for reading this, sitting through my mediocre writing about fictional character and shipping two characters that the Supergirl writers are too chicken to make gay.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Dead?” Lena asked, “Like <em>dead, </em>dead?”</p>
<p>Sam nodded. She had seen the body herself, bleeding out on the floor, a ricocheted arrow right through the heart. It was a grotesque image, but one that Lena felt no remorse for. She would have to wear all black, of course, make it at least <em>seem </em>like she was mourning that dreadful woman, but she would in secret be smiling.</p>
<p>“There <em>is </em>one other thing, Princess Lena.” Sam told her.</p>
<p>“What is it?”</p>
<p>“The suitor, the one who brought in the flying ship? She’s still here.”</p>
<p>Lena was taken by surprise, only able to utter out one word.</p>
<p>“She?”</p>
<hr/>
<p>Kara had been waiting for so long. She had spent such a long time, gone on such a journey to reach the capital, to meet the princess. And now it was happening. <em>Finally. </em>The princess had agreed to meet her. She didn’t know whether or not the princess knew that Kara was a peasant or a woman or anything about her, anyway.</p>
<p>But, with Alex, Nia and Kelly by her side and dressed in her now newly washed but still cheap clothes, Kara sat in the garden on a bench, admiring the neatly trimmed and brightly colored plants. Well, that was until she heard a not so distant voice from behind her.</p>
<p>“Kara?” The familiar voice asked.</p>
<p>Lena would know that blonde hair anywhere. Kara turned around, shocked to see the girl from the market in the royal garden, not just that, but dressed in princess clothing and accompanied by guards and a handmaiden.</p>
<p>“Alena?” Kara asked, unable to believe her eyes. They stepped closer to each other, the guards also stepping closer, but Lena stopping them from interfering.</p>
<p>“It’s just Lena.” She told Kara. “I can’t believe this. You’re the one who brought the ship?”</p>
<p>Kara nodded, her mouth suddenly really dry and her pupils suddenly twice their size.</p>
<p>“You’re a—a princess.”</p>
<p>“Yes, I am. I’m sorry for not telling you at the village I—”</p>
<p>“No I’m not mad at all. I’m just… You look very princess-like.”</p>
<p>Lena looked at herself. “Thanks?”</p>
<p>Kara didn’t notice Alex nudging Nia and Kelly away, whispering that they should give them some privacy, and Lena didn’t notice Sam telling the guards the same thing, leaving the two alone in the garden in which Lena had spent so much time looking for suitors that she didn’t realize that the one that she was meant to be with was right under her nose the entire time.</p>
<p>Lena took Kara’s hands into her own, looked into her eyes, and asked her a question that she had wanted to ask her every since that night at the village.</p>
<p>“Kara, will you marry me?” She asked.</p>
<p>In that moment, Kara made a decision. She knew in her heart that it was the right one, and she didn’t make it out of the desire to become a royal, to raise her status, to give her family a better life, but out of the desire to love for the rest of her life.</p>
<p>She smiled, and she said, “No.”</p>
<p>Lena frowned.</p>
<p>“Not yet,” She told her. “One day, but not right now.”</p>
<p>“Why not?” Lena asked, confused. “I thought you wanted to get married.”</p>
<p>“I do. And I want to marry you, but your mom was just killed. And we have so much to catch up on. We’ll have an entire lifetime to marry, and so I want to wait, if that’s okay with you?”</p>
<p>Lena smiled. “That’s okay with me.”</p>
<p>And for the second time, they kissed. Not as two kids in some small village who barely know what they wanted, but as two women, now honest with each other and with themselves.</p>
<hr/>
<p>The funeral of Queen Lillian came, and they all mourned her death. Well, everyone except Lena and Sam of course. And although Lena was nervous about waiting before marriage, she and Kara saw each other every day, and Kara was even given a room in the castle to stay in while they were dating. The kingdom was nervous about not having an official ruler, but they did a lot better since Lillian died than when she was alive.</p>
<p>Lex, shocking everyone, did <em>not </em>look for a wife immediately after Lillian’s death. In fact, he realized that he was a bit of a mommy’s boy himself, and fell into a deep depression that not even he could have predicted right after Lillian was buried.</p>
<hr/>
<p>A month later, and Kara and Lena were in love. It had happened so quickly, the falling in love. And when Lena proposed for the fourth time that week, Kara had said yes. It was shorter than most people dated before getting married, sure, but Kara and Lena were both sure about their relationship. Sure that it would last and sure that they were good together.</p>
<p>And so, with Alex, Nia, Kelly and Sam as bridesmaids, and Jeremiah and Eliza on their way to the capital for the wedding, they planned the day. It didn’t take long to plan it, with all the staff and their friends helping out, and when the day came, Kara was not anxious. She was excited.</p>
<p>It was <em>actually </em>happening. She was getting married.</p>
<p>“Can I see you yet?” Kara asked from outside of the door to Lena’s chambers.</p>
<p>“No! It’s bad luck.”</p>
<p>“Right, right. You know, I didn’t think you were <em>this </em>superstitious.”</p>
<p>“Well we have our entire lives to learn about each other. Now go get ready and leave me be. I’ll see you tonight.” Lena told her. She was getting her dress on to make some last minute adjustments, and Kara couldn’t wait to see her in her wedding dress.</p>
<p>“Fine.” Kara said. “I love you.”</p>
<p>“Love you too.”</p>
<p>They had said it dozens of times by now, and yet every single time felt like the first. The same feeling of warmth, the same feeling of being needed—no. Being <em>wanted</em>. That was the difference between the two. Anyone could feel needed. Maybe your parents need you to care for them in their old age, maybe your siblings need you to drive them to the mall after school, maybe your friends need you to hang out with and as a shoulder to cry on when they get rejected by their dream college, but to be wanted was completely different.</p>
<p>To be wanted was saying, “I could live without you, but I don’t want to.” It’s saying, “you could leave, but I’d rather you stayed” and “I like my life better with you in it.”</p>
<p>It’s a wonderful thing, being wanted. And Kara and Lena both wanted to marry each other. It was no longer them marrying for Lena to take the throne, nor was it for Kara to raise her social status. They didn’t <em>need </em>to marry each other. They <em>wanted </em>to.</p>
<p>And so they did.</p>
<hr/>
<p>When the sun began to set, the ceremony had begun. One by one, they walked down the aisle of flower petals laid down on the neatly trimmed grass that covered the top of the hill that they were on. Both sides and all the chairs were filled with friends and family, the residents of the kingdom watching from afar.</p>
<p>Slowly, Kara walked with Jeremiah at her side towards the wedding arch, dressed in the best clothes that she had ever worn and the biggest smile she had ever produced. When Lena walked down the aisle towards the love of her life, she was not walking alone. Giving her away and also doubling as her maid of honour was Sam, the one person who she knew was her real family, and always would be.</p>
<p>And in the crowd, sitting in the very front as Kara and Lena exchanged their vows, Eliza and Jeremiah Danvers caught sight of Kara’s bridesmaid and now close friend. And they recognized her as their long lost eldest daughter, Alex.</p>
<p>They decided to keep their knowledge to themselves until the reception, and let Kara and Lena have their moment. And they did. When they kissed for the first time as wives, the entire kingdom erupted into cheering and laughter and clapped for their new, beloved leaders.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>“We’re married.” Kara said once she and Lena got a moment to themselves.</p>
<p>“We are.” Lena took Kara’s hand into her own. The sun had set and the moon had taken over the sky, but the night was anything but quiet. Loud music, people dancing, the sounds of celebration filled the capital and everyone gathered around the castle to get a glimpse of the royal wedding.</p>
<p>“Apparently Alex is my biological sister and therefore also your sister in law.”</p>
<p>“What?”</p>
<p>“It’s a lot, I know.”</p>
<p>“Are we going to go out there again?”</p>
<p>“Hold on.” Kara kissed her wife once, soft and tender and overflowing with love. “<em>Now </em>we can go back out there.” Lena smiled and Kara offered her arm. “Your highness?”</p>
<p>And arm in arm, finally married, they went out to their wedding reception and out to their new lives together.</p>
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<p>THE END.</p>
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  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>so i guess thats it. bye.</p>
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